I just went up for a couple of hours this evening; I'm acclimatising to the altitude again as it's been a long time since I was last on Mauna Kea. Unfortunately for the photographers up there the sky was absolutely clear, not a high cloud in sight and that means the sunsets tend to be quite boring, at least to those that have seen the odd one before! Still, clear skies mean excellent observing, so the astronomers will be happy tonight.
Cinder cones and Mauna Kea's shadow in the east.
Subaru (left) and one of the Kecks at sunset.
As I've mentioned on the odd occasion in the past, my camera is very poor in low light conditions but the view from Hale Pohaku at the 9,000 foot level when I came down was stunning - it was the Milky way just about to set in the west. I'm fairly certain this is the Galactic Centre as it's about the right time of year for it to be setting just after sunset. The lights at the bottom left are from the Visitor Center where the volunteers were already showing the night sky to tonight's visitors.
I just went up for a couple of hours this evening; I'm acclimatising to the altitude again as it's been a long time since I was last on Mauna Kea. Unfortunately for the photographers up there the sky was absolutely clear, not a high cloud in sight and that means the sunsets tend to be quite boring, at least to those that have seen the odd one before! Still, clear skies mean excellent observing, so the astronomers will be happy tonight.
Cinder cones and Mauna Kea's shadow in the east.
Subaru (left) and one of the Kecks at sunset.
As I've mentioned on the odd occasion in the past, my camera is very poor in low light conditions but the view from Hale Pohaku at the 9,000 foot level when I came down was stunning - it was the Milky way just about to set in the west. I'm fairly certain this is the Galactic Centre as it's about the right time of year for it to be setting just after sunset. The lights at the bottom left are from the Visitor Center where the volunteers were already showing the night sky to tonight's visitors.
3 comments:
Love the golden view of Subaru and Keck 1. I don't have as many opportunities to be up at sunset as you do. I was up at dawn this week, just sublime.
You are right about galactic center, fairly near the middle, and a bit below the center of your photograph.
I took my six-monthly chance of hanging around for sunrise yesterday - have to admit I prefer sunsets but only because I'm not used to photographing the sunrise yet!
The sunrise was stunning and loved the colours that I don't usually get to see other than in an SUV speeding down the mountain!
Tom
Wow! I love your Milky Way photo!
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