APOD: The Sky from Mauna Kea (2015 May 11)

[APOD Robot]

The Sky from Mauna Kea

Explanation: What if you could stand at the top of a volcano and peer out across the universe? It the timing is right, you might see an amazing panorama like the one featured here. In this case, the volcano is the Hawaii's Mauna Kea, and the time was a clear night last summer In the foreground of this south-facing panorama lies a rugged landscape dotted with rocks and hardy plants. Slightly above and further out, a white blanket of clouds spreads horizontally to the horizon, seemingly dividing heaven and Earth. City lights illuminate the clouds and sky on the far left, while orange lava in the volcanic caldera of Kilauea lights up the clouds just left of center. The summit of an even more distant Hawaiian volcano, Mauna Loa, is visible in dark silhouette near the central horizon. Green airglow is visible above the clouds, caused by air molecules excited by the Sun during the day. The Moon is the bright orb on the right. A diffuse band of light-colored zodiacal light extends up from the far right. Most distant, the dramatic central band of our Milky Way Galaxy appears to rise vertically from Mauna Loa. The person who witnessed and captured this breathtaking panorama stands before you in the image center.

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[DL MARTIN]

IS THAT A GALAXY JUST TO THE LEFT AND SLIGHTLY DOWN FROM MARS?

[MadMan]

If you click on the image to download the hi-res image, you will see that is a meteor.

[starsurfer]

I think Hilo is full of astronomers!

[Jarod997]

You have got better at Photography! (249)

Very nice job incorporating many different light sources.

[Craine]

If you click on the image to download the hi-res image, you will see that is a meteor.

There is another one in the middle of the Milky Way's dust lanes.

[neufer]

Would you please quit covering up your perfectly nice astronomical images with those stupid cartoons explaining what we are seeing?

I'm ready to begin cursing at you.

Rather than cursing you might try moving your cursor off of the astronomical images.

Cursor is Latin for 'runner.' A cursor is the name given to the transparent slide engraved with a hairline that is used for marking a point on a slide rule. The term was then transferred to computers through analogy.

Curse, v. t. [AS. cursian, corsian, perh. of Scand. origin; cf. Dan. korse to make the sign of the cross]

[Boomer12k]

Looks like we are going to need to rename The Pipe Nebula region to..... The Battle Axe....

Really a great shot!!!! Top o the world, Ma....

:---(===) *

[Joe Stieber]

Based primarily on the position of the moon, this picture was taken on August 28, 2014. The moon was about 3.7 days old and 12% illuminated (i.e., a moderately thin crescent as shown in the mouseover inset).

Some of the labeled astronomical features are...

Humu = Altair
Nai'a = Delphinus
Ka Maka = Shaula & Lesath, the stinger of Scorpius
Lehuakona = Antares
Hikianalia = Spica
Hokule'a = Arcturus

Ceres could also have been added, about 4.5 degrees below-right of Vesta (for comparison, Mars and Saturn are about 4 degrees apart).

[Ron-Astro Pharmacist]

Some of the Hawaiian names for the celestial objects also made me curious the find their origins.

http://pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu/ike/hookele/h ... lines.html

I like the annotations and "The Sky from Mauna Kea!" Nani Wakea

[Doink]

Would you please quit covering up your perfectly nice astronomical images with those stupid cartoons explaining what we are seeing?

Some of us completely unprofessional beginners need help with what we're looking at. The mouse-overs are quite helpful. Please continue to add them where feasible. Thanks, APOD kicks a**es in the butt.

[neufer]

http://pbshawaii.org/insights-on-pbs-ha ... -continue/

[Boomer12k]

Actually, I LIKE the annotations....makes it easier to know the other things you are looking at...

:---[===] *

[neufer]

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

Actually, I LIKE the annotations....makes it easier to know the other things you are looking at... :---[===] *

“You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... So let's look at the bird and see what it's doing -- that's what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something.”

―Richard Feynman

[Chris Peterson]

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

Actually, I LIKE the annotations....makes it easier to know the other things you are looking at... :---[===] *

“You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... So let's look at the bird and see what it's doing -- that's what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something.”

―Richard Feynman

Of course, if you don't also know the name of the bird, your ability to communicate your knowledge of what it's doing is very limited.

[neufer]

[b][color=#0000FF]Maui Snaring the Sun, pen & ink drawing by Arman Manookian circa 1927, Honolulu Academy of Arts.[/color][/b]

---

Of course, if you don't also know the name of the bird,
your ability to communicate your knowledge of what it's doing is very limited.

My ability to communicate my knowledge of Hawaiian named stars with no information on even how to pronounce them (much less what interesting mythological stories might be involved) is also limited.

[geckzilla]

I can't help with pronunciation but information regarding Polynesian sky culture can be found here. This web page was used to help annotate the image along with Stellarium, which has the ability to display numerous sky cultures built in. http://pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu/ike/hookele/h ... lines.html

[Chris Peterson]

Of course, if you don't also know the name of the bird,
your ability to communicate your knowledge of what it's doing is very limited.

My ability to communicate my knowledge of Hawaiian named stars with no information on even how to pronounce them (much less what interesting mythological stories might be involved) is also limited.

Perhaps, but it need not be. If you chose to study any of the objects identified in today's image, you would only be limited in your ability to communicate that knowledge to people embedded in Polynesian culture if you could not connect your knowledge with the correct cultural labels.

[Trelfani]

This is a montage photo. Kilauea is on the other side of Mauna Loa, which is in between Mauna Kea and Kilauea. Hilo is South of Mauna Kea, not north. You cannot see the south end of Mauna Loa from Mauna Kea, because the Northwest Rift Zone of Mauna Loa is in the way. Mauna Loa is only about 30 feet lower than Mauna Kea.

[Chris Peterson]

This is a montage photo. Kilauea is on the other side of Mauna Loa, which is in between Mauna Kea and Kilauea. Hilo is South of Mauna Kea, not north. You cannot see the south end of Mauna Loa from Mauna Kea, because the Northwest Rift Zone of Mauna Loa is in the way. Mauna Loa is only about 30 feet lower than Mauna Kea.

The image is not a "montage" (whatever that means). It is a single image made on a full-frame sensor with a 24 mm lens. Whether or not Kilauea is blocked by the lower eastern slope of Mauna Loa isn't really at issue, since we're seeing the glow of Kilauea on the clouds over it, not the volcano itself (although it's close... we're looking towards a 3,500 foot caldera from a 13,500 foot peak with an intervening 6,000 foot ridge approximately midway). Hilo is mainly east of Mauna Kea, which is why we see its light on the left (east) side of this image.

[geckzilla]

It is disorientingly wide. It's almost a full 180° across so straight in the middle is approximately south and at the left and right edges are east and west, respectively. Per the photographer, the image is a 20 shot panorama and not a single image. (This info came from an email exchange that was made available to me to make it easier to annotate.)

[Chris Peterson]

It is disorientingly wide. It's almost a full 180° across so straight in the middle is approximately south and at the left and right edges are east and west, respectively. Per the photographer, the image is a 20 shot panorama and not a single image. (This info came from an email exchange that was made available to me to make it easier to annotate.)

Interesting. It looked too wide for a 24mm lens, but with composited images the processing software usually removes the focal length and exposure time from the EXIF header.

I should point out (not to you) that the correct term for this type of image is "mosaic", not "montage". It is certainly a panorama, but a panorama need not be a mosaic, of course.

[geckzilla]

I usually let people get away with saying montage if they aren't imagers. I'd chide a fellow artist.

[2stepbay]

Lovely pano image. At first I had difficulty understanding exactly which scene I was viewing vis-a-vis the visual I'm accustomed to seeing from this location. The extra wide angle perspective makes Mauna Loa seem far in the distance to the right of Kilauea. Actually, Mauna Loa looms quite large across the saddle area of Big Island, an area which bisects Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, with Kilauea more in the distance. Also, the glow from Kilauea is coming from a lava lake within Halema'uma'u Crater. That crater is within Kilauea Crater at the summit of Mauna Kilauea, approx 4,000 ft elevation.

The bright surface glows from Hilo and the area directly in front of the observer are exaggerated by the long exposure. I'd imagine the glow in front of the observer comes from the Visitor Centre area at the 9,000 ft elevation. It's here workers manning the telescopes at the summit find lodging, food etc. Of course, the light there is fully shielded.

[neufer]

Actually, I LIKE the annotations....makes it easier to know the other things you are looking at... :---[===] *

“You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... So let's look at the bird and see what it's doing -- that's what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something.”

―Richard Feynman

Of course, if you don't also know the name of the bird, your ability to communicate your knowledge of what it's doing is very limited.

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

Click to play embedded YouTube video.