Episode 9 of the Dec 2024 eruption of Kilauea fountains from two vents on 11 Feb 2025
The ongoing eruption of Kilauea has been an off and on affair, starting and stopping every few days since this eruptive sequence started just before Christmas. The last few cycles had been more off than on, going several days or a week with no lava visible. While the lava fountains have been short lived, just 13 to 20 hours.
To be sure I was not totally without, I had made the run across island on Jan 16th to see episode 4 of the current eruption, but my parents had not witnessed lava for many years, their annual winter visits not overlapping with an eruption.
This current eruption has been wonderful and frustrating in alternate measure. The eruption started just before Christmas 2024 and has now persisted well into 2025. Along the way it has been an off and on again show, one with frustrating timing.
The plume from the January 2025 eruption of Kilauea
While erupting the volcano has produced some of the most spectacular lava fountains, it then shuts off like somebody closed a valve, often going from full throttle to nothing in minutes.
For the first part of this eruptive series the timing has been horrible, at least from my viewpoint. Through the Christmas holiday I had a series of commitments well timed to prevent my running over to see the eruption while it was going. Then, when I was free to drive over the eruption stopped!
With four nights in the park I planned to do a little observing along with the plannedhikes. situated on the south face of the island the park offers a view of southern skies objects that cannont be matched anywhere else in the 50 states.
Makaʻiki Mk2 setup at the Hilina Pali viewpoint in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park observing the southern sky
The plan was simple… Getup in the wee dark hours and drive the 20 minutes to the Maunaiki Trailhead. I could then setup my little 6″ travel scope and observe the southern sky.
Arriving I at the trailhead I was not happy, unusual morning clouds covered the sky, not a star to be found. This is the Kaʻu Desert!! It is supppose to be dry and clear in the morning. My cursing had no effect on the clouds.
A quick look at the satellite imagery and I headed further down the road to the Halina Pali Overlook with some hope. It was dicey, but I was already driving around in the middle of the night, why not?
And behold… Clear skies. Somewhat. It had clearly rained in the night as everything was wet. But at least some of the sky was beautifully dark and clear. As long as the rainclouds looming in the east held off I could do what I suffered such an early alarm for.
Quickly setting up the little scope I found conditions were not bad, though I did have to hop about a bit to avoid some drifting clouds. There was usually some part of the sky clear… Use it!
NGC 5286 – Bright and obvious, small at 2′ diameter, unresolved, round with a bright center, the 4.6 magnitude M Cen is 4′ southeast
M68 – Bright and obvious, 3′ diameter, rich, not resolved, round with a bright and well concentrated core
NGC 4361 – Small, bright and obvious, a round 1′ disk with a bright central star and well defined extents, no color noted, no other structure noted
NGC 5139 – A spectacular swarm of stars, very bright and easy to sweep up, large at 30′ diameter, resolved, extremely rich, well concentrated with a exceptionally dense center that fades radially into a fine mist of stars, one cannot fathom such a region of the cosmos, a place where our mere common sense fails utterly
Omega Centauri, NGC5139, sum of 31 x 1min exposures, AT6RC and Canon 60D
Close to astronomical dawn the clouds swept across the sky, a curtain to end the show. A few scattered raindrops had me hurrying to pack the gear back in the vehicle. I was considering what to do next when the rain came in ernest, a steady rain that washed over the windshield.
The drive back into the main section of the park proved fruitful as I found the usually crowded trails deserted in the early morning rain.
Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park is famous for eruptions and lava, so many come hoping to see this spectacle of nature. The park is also famous for the crowds, particularly at the more popular viewpoints and trailheads. While the park is enormous, only a small portion of the park is easily accessible and even then the crowds tend to concentrate at the summit of Kilauea and along the rim of the caldera.
A rainforest atop Kilauea dominated by ‘ōhi‘a and hāpuʻu ferns
Those like myself who enjoy the park will often plan outings specifically to avoid the crowds, and fortunately this is relatively easy to do. Visiting the lesser used sections of the park is a good tactic. A visit to the park’s Kahuku unit is a good choice. Or perhaps a hike into the Ka‘u Desert.
Sometime you want to see the popular sections, this is also possible. One major hint… Early mornings.
