Snow on the summits from space

[TomK]

Really nice picture taken by OLI (Operational Land Imager) on the Landsat 8 satellite of snow on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on Christmas day. Clicking on the top picture gives you access to a large version of the image (6K x 6K pixels).

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=89356

[birdmove]

Thanks, Tom! Very cool. Have to show my wife in the morning. We drove over the saddle last week on Monday. We hadn't seen snow on Mauna Loa till then.

Jon in Keaau/HPP

[TomK]

"Very cool."

In more ways than one, Jon!

[PaulW]

Amazing stars tonight.

[Andrew]

A very interesting photo. Thanks. TomK will we be able to see this comet in our Hawaiian sky on new years Eve? "Comet Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková" (assuming there is no clouds etc.)

http://www.universetoday.com/131745/prev...-december/

[TomK]

Hi, Andrew. Unfortunately, it will be very close to the sun on New Year's Eve and almost impossible to see (certainly not with the naked eye). It sets around 8 pm but is very close to the horizon when it gets dark. If you can spot the new crescent moon, the comet will be slightly below it.

February 2017 will be a much better opportunity to see the comet as it approaches the earth. You'll likely still need binoculars though.

[beepbeep]

Great picture

Hope I see the comet in February. I remember when we had the one that was so easy to see, Hale-Bopp or something like that! A little girl who lived in my building was talking about it an called it "the thing with a tail"

Pam in CA