🔭 Mauna Kea Tonight: Patience Pays Off

What a classic summit story — the early evening clouds roll in, but real darkness rewards the wait. Here's your hourly breakdown:

• 20:00–22:00 HST: Thick clouds (85% → 42%) make observing frustrating. Temperatures dropping from 13°C to 12°C, light wind ~2 m/s. Not worth hauling out gear yet. The Waxing Gibbous Moon (86% lit) transits at 22:11, so it's high and bright, washing out faint fuzzies.

• 23:00–01:00 HST: Clouds finally break. By 23:00, cloud cover plummets to 20% and continues down to 14% at 01:00. Temperature stabilizes around 11.3°C — brisk but comfortable with Bortle 2 skies. This is your window. Moon is still up but sinking, allowing darker conditions later.

Planets: - Venus (mag -3.97) — already transited, but will be a brilliant beacon low in the west after sunset. Catch it before 21:00. - Moon — dominating the sky, but great for a quick lunar observation.

Top Targets for Tonight (Bright enough to fight moonlight): - M31 (Andromeda Galaxy, mag 3.4) — naked-eye visible from Mauna Kea if the moon is low enough. Wait until after midnight. - M44 (Beehive Cluster, mag 3.7) — an open cluster that handles moonlight well. - M7 & M6 (Ptolemy & Butterfly Clusters, mag 4.1 & 5.3) — both are large, bright open clusters in Scorpius, low on the southern horizon but classic summer jewels. - M13 (Great Globular, mag 5.8) — high overhead, a must-see with any scope.

Pro Tip: Start your session around 23:30 when clouds have cleared and the moon is past the meridian. Focus on bright globulars and open clusters — the dark Bortle 2 sky will still reveal plenty of detail even with a gibbous moon. Dress warmly!

Clear skies await after 23:00 — go for it! 🌌