Night at the House of Pele - Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

[jadewolf]

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Pele is awake at Kīlauea!

On my last trip, I was too tired after a day of hiking to stay after dark and missed out on photographing the incandescent glow of the lava. This time, I prepared ahead in order to get the shots. The eruption has changed a little in character since last year. The main spatter cone has mostly been absorbed by the growing lava lake, now eruptions of lava happen all around the edges and occasionally from vents higher up. It made for some lovely photos at night!

The first and third shot were taken from the overlook near Volcano House, and the middle shot was taken from the overlook near Keanakākoʻi Crater. I was hoping for a clear night to get the Milky Way over the crater, but the clouds ended up being a surprising boon. I loved the way the red glow of the lava lake was reflected in the clouds overhead and it ended up being one of my favorite shots. The two lava lake ones were shot with the 1.4TC attached, which gave just the extra bit of length it called for to get really close on the action.

 

[Mark Garfinkel]

Cool Photos, wouldn't want to get to close.

 

[jadewolf]

Thanks! The Keanakākoʻi viewpoint is about a half mile away from the crater edge, so not too close. But near enough to really get a feel for the power of the place, especially at night!

 

[Replytoken]

Great images. Nice to see there is activity again. Were were there before the collapse, and then had family let us know that after the crater collapse activity was almost silent.

--Ken

 

[jadewolf]

Great images. Nice to see there is activity again. Were were there before the collapse, and then had family let us know that after the crater collapse activity was almost silent.

--Ken

Yup, I got lucky both this year and last year. The current eruptive episode started up barely a month before my trip in 2021 and was still going strong this year!

I wish I'd been able to go when lava was still flowing into the sea, but.. given the current rumblings at Mauna Loa, that may not be far off, heh. There was actually a moderate quake (3.9) one night of my trip. Magma is definitely on the move.

 

[Butlerkid]

AMAZING images! What an experience!

 

[jadewolf]

AMAZING images! What an experience!

Thank you!

 

[ssheipel]

Very cool! Nice shots. Or should I say 'hot' shots

 

[MalcolmP]

Spectacular! Particularly the first. And Mauna Loa may be rumbling back to active status ?

 

[jadewolf]

Very cool! Nice shots. Or should I say 'hot' shots

Bwahaha! Definitely hot! 2100ºF hot!

Spectacular! Particularly the first. And Mauna Loa may be rumbling back to active status ?

Thank you!!

And yup, there's been steadily increasing seismic activity in the region where they believe Mauna Loa's magma flows from. They closed the summit of Mauna Loa as a precaution. Threat isn't necessarily imminent, but the likelihood of an eruption in the foreseeable future is increasing.

 

[Replytoken]

Bwahaha! Definitely hot! 2100ºF hot!


Thank you!!

And yup, there's been steadily increasing seismic activity in the region where they believe Mauna Loa's magma flows from. They closed the summit of Mauna Loa as a precaution. Threat isn't necessarily imminent, but the likelihood of an eruption in the foreseeable future is increasing.

Are Kilauea and the Halemaumau Crater, both inside the National Park, considered part of Mauna Loa or separate?

--Ken

 

[jadewolf]

Are Kilauea and the Halemaumau Crater, both inside the National Park, considered part of Mauna Loa or separate?

--Ken

Separate. They used to think the two were on the same plumbing, but later research proved Kīlauea and Mauna Loa are truly separate systems. Halemaʻumaʻu is definitely part of Kīlauea, though.

The big threat with Mauna Loa is that its eruptions tend to produce very large volumes of lava. So the risk is high of it reaching inhabitated areas in a very short period of time (for some places on the south Kona coast, that could be within a few hours).