One of the most spectacular sights I have ever seen
This has to be on my top 5 greatest ever astronomy related visual observations. The sort of sight that takes your breath away. Unfortunately I couldn't image it so I'll have to describe it in words.
My wife and I were driving back from the rim of Mt Yasur Volcano, in Tanna Island, Vanuatu last Tuesday. It was absolutely pitch dark -there is no electricity on the entire eastern side of the Island.
Driving across the volcanic ash plains in darkness-as desolate as any moonscape you can imagine-lit only by the headlights of the car, and with only the tracks of the 4WD that have gone before you as signposts is pretty nerve wracking, even if you are in the hands of a driver who has done this hundreds of times before. It was even hairier, thanks to the rain that had driven us from the rim of the crater a short while ago and rendered visibility even poorer.
And then, as I peered through the car window, and all the more memorable because it was so unexpected, the rain stopped and the cloud disappeared as if by magic.
And this is what I saw. In the distance, you could just make out the awesome, forbidding presence of the volcano, angry red emissions at its peak glinting through the cloud of ash that seems to always shroud the caldera. And almost directly overhead,the Milky Way as I have never seen it. Firstly, incredibly bright-I could easily see the Eta Carina nebula with the naked eye. Omega Centauri too was also easily seen with the naked eye. But most spectacular was how wide the Milky Way appeared. I remember Walter Scott Houston once writing in one of his columns, that it is really hard to estimate the width of the milky way, as it can vary from observation to observation, depending upon the seeing and other conditions. Well, the seeing and conditions on this night must have been superb.
So there it was. A forbidding volcano, reaching into the sky, glowing angrily red at the top, through the clouds of ash that surrounded it. And above, the Milky Way, brighter and broader than I have ever seen before, arching across the entire sky.
What an incredible sight. I feel privileged to have observed this.
Wow !!! So cool, so lucky. We spent 10 days in Vanuatu a few years ago and enjoying the magnificent skies at night. We have plans to go back and Tanna is on the list to visit. I'll be taking the 10 x 50's at the least to see the sky.
And the people and the place are magnificent as well.
how does the saying go-dont count the moments you breathe, what matters are the moments that take your breath away ?
This certainly fell into the latter category
Ah, but did you try and bring back any Tanna Coffee ??
We found that up in Port Vila. Just such a nice chocolatey, nutty Aribica, perfect for keeping you warm and awake out by the scope.
Can now get it in NZ so always got a bag or two in the pantry.
didnt bring it back,had a tight connection in brisbane so didnt want to muck around with customs, but most certainly sampled the coffee on tanna
Its really really good
I've been to Vanatu but Tanna is still on the 'to do' list and I have
certainly looked at it closely on Google Earth in the past and it looks
scarecely populated and one very dark coner of the Earth.
So I will have to live through your description of the night sky.
How was the volcano itself? Was it putting on a show? Some of the
video I have seen is incredible and it is amazing people manage to get
so close.
How was the volcano itself? Was it putting on a show? Some of the
video I have seen is incredible and it is amazing people manage to get
so close.
Best Regards
Gary
Gary
the main reason for going to Tanna was of course to stand on the rim of Mt Yasur and look down at the most accessible active volcano, doing its thing
we were a bit worried-the DFAT site still has a travellers advisory and even Lonely Planet says don't go if the volcano is at level 3 or 4
as it turns out DFAT had simply not updated the site from an eruption in end May or early June and the volcano is actually at level 2- think it may well have been at level 1 on the night we visited
hang the expense, its worth it
got a few seconds of video as well and will post when I process.Its awesome
Narayan
Last edited by seeker372011; 23-07-2010 at 10:16 PM.