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For several years, a team of researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been building a robotically operated moonlight measurement installation on NOAA’s Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO) in Hawaii. The purpose of the installation is to measure the Moon’s reflectance better than ever before. These measurements will improve the accuracy of satellite imagery used to observe weather patterns, track trends in crop health, and monitor deforestation, snow cover, algal blooms in the ocean, and other global changes.
But in November 2022, the Mauna Loa volcano erupted, taking out power lines and the access road that served the observatory.
This video highlights the work to build the moonlight measurement installation up to the point of eruption. Photos and videos include striking phenomena such as puffed-up bags of chips at high altitude, a sundial with no shadow, anticrepuscular rays, and the nighttime glow of the volcanoes.