High Maintenance Mom

Kilauea, the volcano on the main island of Hawaii that has been in a continuous state of eruption since 1983, has been showing new activity in the past year. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO), located next to the caldera, monitors the volcanic activity and posts beautiful pictures online. The glow from the current plume is easiest to see at night. Because of the time difference, you can often view the glow for yourself on the Halema`uma`u web cam in the early morning. The Kilauea image here shows the pre-moonrise stars and the intense Halema`uma`u glow on April 27th. If you view the April 2008 Image Archive, you will see an image of the observatory with the plume in the backgound. Watching the eruption is a great way to introduce science to kids...

You can start with showing the beautiful images on the HVO web site. By following the changes in the eruption, you are being a scientist as the USGS scientists also watch the eruption and look for clues about what might happen next. Many clues are found by studying what has happened in the past. Visit Previous Featured Stories to learn more about what has happened throughout this eruption. You can also read the
Kilauea updates for what's going on today and view the web cams (links at top of Kilauea updates page) to see what's going on right now.