Tonga Eruption Detected at Maunakea

On Saturday 15 January 2022 04:10 UT (Friday evening 14 January 2022 in the US), an underwater volcano in the South Pacific erupted violently. The eruption from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano created atmospheric pressure waves that were detected and seen 5000 kilometers (3000 miles) away in Hawai‘i.

The waves were captured visually Friday evening in these cloud cam videos from Gemini North, one half of the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF's NOIRLab. Watch for faintly red waves traveling through the atmosphere around 22:45 HST in the first clip, around 22:40 HST in the second clip, and around 22:15 HST in the third clip, recorded in the directions west, south, and north from Maunakea, respectively.