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Kilauea erupts, destroying webcam [video]

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581 points zdw | 4 comments | 06 Dec 25 23:39 UTC | HN request time: 0.771s | source
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sedatk ◴[07 Dec 25 09:48 UTC] No.46180489[source]▶
I was there today. We happened to notice the smoke over Kilauea while driving to Hilo, then checked out USGS cams, and immediately drove there and spent the next 7 hours getting mesmerized.

As my first eruption encounter, I didn’t expect to experience several things like the heat even from a long distance, enough to keep me warm in my shorts at 60F, and the loud rumble, like a giant waterfall. The flow of lava was way faster than I expected too, almost like oil.

Mind blown.

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1. mdani ◴[07 Dec 25 16:55 UTC] No.46183089[source]▶
Same here. I'd add that viewing the lava fountain at night was a mesmerizing experience. You get to see the full extent of red, glowing lava lake and the fountain. There were thousands of people and yet they appeared so small in front of the volcano. We did experience some ash and Pele's hair on the way to the park, near the black sand beach. I do recommend carrying a torch though at night, since it is pitch black at night. The lava illuminated the park with the red glow, but there were some parts where you do need a torch esp. if you park far away and walk.
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2. JumpCrisscross ◴[07 Dec 25 18:19 UTC] No.46183760[source]▶
> viewing the lava fountain at night was a mesmerizing experience

Is there anything comparable to the overview effect [1] that attends seeing a lava fountain in person?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_effect

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3. sedatk ◴[08 Dec 25 17:59 UTC] No.46195486[source]▶
Yes we watched it in the night too. It was disappointing to see iPhone “normalizing” its brightness down. I had to take raw photos to capture it.
4. ceravis ◴[08 Dec 25 18:20 UTC] No.46195739[source]▶
Perhaps a total solar eclipse? Especially so when seeing half the solar system lined up neatly in a row with the sun and moon (and a comet in case of the recent April 2024 eclipse in the US), and truly feeling that one is riding on a chunk of rock hurtling through space, tethered invisibly to that impossibly distant mass of gas and plasma like a ball at the end of a rope...

Still get frisson every time I think about it ;)