----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mauna Loa Solar Observatory Observer's Log ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sat Oct 17 16:41:17 GMT 2026 Year:26 Doy:290 Observer: mcotter Weather COMMENT BY mcotter: Sat Oct 17 16:43:24 GMT 2026 MLSO Current Weather Timestamp (UTC): 2026-10-17 16:38:00 Temperature : 38.61 deg F Dew Point : 8.11 deg F Pressure : 680.67 mbar Wind Speed : 8.95 mph Wind Direction : 156.6 deg Skies: Clear skies overhead with clouds in all directions at lower elevations. The inversion layer is visible on the horizon at the peak of Haleakala. Cold steady wind from the southeast. ___end___ GENERAL COMMENT BY mcotter: Sat Oct 17 17:14:42 GMT 2026 entry was edited While driving up the Maunaloa access road I could see a large plume of smoke and clouds towering over the ridge of Maunaloa. I went online and checked Kilauea and the plume that I saw is coming from another Kilauea eruption taking place and the webcam shows lava fountaining and smoke billowing. ___end___ Sat Oct 17 17:19:40 GMT 2026 Kcor Focus/alignment program exited. Autofocus range set to 136.07. KCOR BY mcotter: Sat Oct 17 17:23:14 GMT 2026 Kcor: The Kcor instrument is now observing. Initial synoptic images look good. ___end___ Sat Oct 17 20:06:35 GMT 2026 KCOR Start Calibration script: c:\kcor\mlso-calibration22deg-20171025.ini Sat Oct 17 20:21:49 GMT 2026 KCOR End Calibration Script Weather COMMENT BY mcotter: Sat Oct 17 20:24:26 GMT 2026 MLSO Current Weather Timestamp (UTC): 2026-10-17 20:20:00 Temperature : 55.42 deg F Dew Point : 24.28 deg F Pressure : 682.04 mbar Wind Speed : 9.62 mph Wind Direction : 34.9 deg Skies: The sky overhead remains clear at this time, but Cirrus clouds are approaching from the south-southeast. Additionally, Orographic clouds have formed and are now approaching from the east and west. ___end___ Weather COMMENT BY mcotter: Sat Oct 17 21:08:13 GMT 2026 MLSO Current Weather Timestamp (UTC): 2026-10-17 20:56:00 Temperature : 57.25 deg F Dew Point : 13.64 deg F Pressure : 681.83 mbar Wind Speed : 13.87 mph Wind Direction : 28.1 deg Skies: The sky continues to be clear overhead. The Cirrus clouds that were reported moving in from the south-southeast have lost their defined shape and now appear to be Cirrostratus clouds. These clouds are increasing and continue to move toward the observatory area. Orographic clouds continue to form and are moving in from the west and coming up over the summit of Maunaloa to the south. ___end___ Weather COMMENT BY mcotter: Sat Oct 17 22:11:12 GMT 2026 Orographic clouds have moved into the area of the observatory and are now in the viewing area. ___end___ KCOR COMMENT BY mcotter: Sat Oct 17 22:12:06 GMT 2026 Kcor: Observations have been paused due to poor sky conditions. ___end___ Weather COMMENT BY mcotter: Sat Oct 17 22:56:12 GMT 2026 Weather: Skies: Orographic clouds continue to come into the area of the observatory from all directions and the sky is rapidly becoming mostly overcast. ___end___ GENERAL BY mcotter: Sat Oct 17 22:58:59 GMT 2026 The dome and dome area windows have been closed due to poor sky conditions. The spar continues to track in Open Loop state, in the event the sky clears up and observations may resume. ___end___ KCOR COMMENT BY KCOR: Sun Oct 18 00:42:00 GMT 2026 KCOR file transfer report KCor created 1145 .bin files 1145 .fts files WARNING 1 fts file(s) found locally that was not transfered dawn ACTION must be taken to copy: 20261017_172004_kcor.fts ___end___ Sun Oct 18 00:48:50 GMT 2026 Kcor Focus/alignment program exited Sun Oct 18 00:50:41 GMT 2026 Kcor Focus/alignment program exited KCOR BY mcotter: Sun Oct 18 00:56:19 GMT 2026 Kcor: It looked like there may have been an opening in the clouds, so I attempted observing again, but the sky is very bright and aerosols are super high. Also, within a minute of getting back on sky clouds reappeared and the sky is again overcast. ___end___ BY mcotter: Sun Oct 18 01:06:05 GMT 2026 End Of Day: Good morning of observations, though aerosols were high at times. Orographic clouds moved into the area of the observatory in the early afternoon ending observations for the day. ___end___ Logger COMMENT BY mcotter: Sun Oct 18 01:06:06 GMT 2026 Log closed ONSITE STAFF: mcotter ___end___