When you want to see the stars, find someplace dark
The storm appears to be waning now, the satellite shows that much of it has passed the island. Not long ago the snowplow crews let it be known that they would not reach the summit today, try again tomorrow as the storm abates.
I did a bit of a photo survey of the summit using MastCam to check on the summit conditions. Poliʻahu rules Mauna Kea!
The storm continues unabated atop Mauna Kea. Word from the snowplow crews is bad, deep drifts cover the road above the switchbacks. They are stating that it is unlikely our summit crew will be able to access the telescopes today. That will make the second day in a row with no access.
MastCam is still functioning, only half the dome is covered with ice. I have turned the heater on in an attempt to clear what I can. The view it reveals is deeper snow and a lot more ice. The railings on the dome ladders have coatings many inches thick.
Folks sometimes get a little perturbed when MKSS closes the Mauna Kea summit road. Everyone wants to go up and see the snow. Yes, the road is closed right now, for good reason, there really is no accessible road on the summit at the moment. Not taking my word for it? See for yourself…
The storm is raging at the summit. The wind is howling and freezing fog is coating everything with ice. The webcam images are mostly blocked as ice covers the camera windows, but I can still see out of one side of MastCam towards the Keck 2 dome.
Just received word that our day crew will not attempt the summit, they are leaving HP and headed home. The rangers report snow drifts on the road at fairly low elevations and the snow plow crews will not attempt to clear the roads until the storm abates. Looks like we will lose cooling on some of the instruments as the liquid nitrogen runs out.
It snowed much of yesterday and well into the night. The result? Probably about a foot total at the summit, the Mauna Kea rangers report drifts of up to two feet in places. I am scheduled up top tomorrow, maybe some more photos?
It is snowing pretty hard on the summit of Mauna Kea right now. There were a few inches from the previous days, looks like quite a bit more by tomorrow…
With the start of March the observatory known as JAC is no more. The Joint Astronomy Center ran two telescopes, the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) and the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). Both telescopes have been transferred to new management and will continue to pursue science.
You can get more details on Tom Kerr’s blog A Pacific View.
I would also suggest you take a few minutes and enjoy some beautiful time-lapse to celebrate the achievements of the JAC…
Starlapse: The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope from William Montgomerie on Vimeo.
This photo is getting a little comment, no surprise, it is hilarious. When I stopped at park two to look around I had no idea and when I saw it I broke out laughing. Alone on the side of an ice covered mountain, laughing loudly with no one to hear but the wind…
