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Site will warn of asteroids
WAILUKU » An asteroid warning system that includes a telescope atop Haleakala is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
The Maui News reported Sunday the Asteroid Terrestrial- Impact Last Alert System will be installed in an existing facility at the Haleakala High Altitude Observatory Site.
The University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy says the system will be capable of providing a one-week warning for a 50-yard-diameter asteroid and three weeks for a 150-yard-diameter one.
The institute says the system will also look for dwarf planets, supernova explosions and flashes of light that occur when a star is gobbled up by a massive black hole in a distant galaxy.
NASA is providing $5 million over five years for the project, which includes eight telescopes, one of them at Mauna Kea.
Lava stays put at front, edges
The most recent aerial assessment of Kilauea Volcano’s June 27 lava flow found no progress either at the leading edge or at any of several breakout flows.
The assessment was conducted Sunday morning.
The front of the flow remains less than a half-mile from Highway 130 near the Pahoa police and fire stations.
A breakout remains active and widening but has shown little advancement over the past four days.
Two breakouts between 1 and 1.5 miles upslope and behind the flow and another breakout on the south margin have stalled. None of the current activity poses an immediate threat to area communities.