A Darker View

The Milky Way may have been drowned out by a bright Moon last night, but it was still a great night to view the sky from the Mauna Kea VIS. The sky may have been bright, but we had something else that can be a precious as a dark sky, very steady air. The images of the Moon and Jupiter were crisp and sharp, even at high power.

Many folks took advantage of the conditions to attempt photographs of the Moon. I spent much of the evening at the 102mm refractor showing people how to take photos of the Moon. The results were a lot of smiles and a lot of fun as unusual photos were added to memory cards. Crisp Moon shots to be downloaded along with the usual palm trees and beach snaps of a Hawaiian vacation.

I took a few minutes to collimate the LX200 16" properly. The result was a chance to view Jupiter at 500x with my 8mm Radian eyepiece. Quite nice, the high magnification being quite usable, where normal conditions limit us to less than half that magnification. The cloud bands showed plenty of detail, and the moons were clearly visible as disks.

I took a few frames of both the Moon and Jupiter with my old Nikon 995. I have an adapter that fits this camera to the eyepiece allowing easy afocal photography. The results are some of the best single frames I have ever managed of a planet. I can only imagine what the result could have been had I had a proper webcam setup available and the ability to take hundreds of frames to process.

Howard Dicus has a nice vignette about how hot news, like this morning's Somoan Earthquake, affects a newsroom and how they struggle to obtain and sort out facts for use on the air.

I asked myself similar questions about putting info up on this blog. I knew I was putting up reliable info, simply the official releases from the Tsunami Warning Center. But should I put these things here? The answer to myself was simple... Part of my mission with Darker View is to record life on the island, both for my readers and as a sort of personal diary. Threats from volcanoes, earthquakes, wildfire, hurricanes and tsunami are part of life in Hawai'i.

Disasters that do not materialize are still valuable. They make you think about next time. Do I know where the tsunami evacuation route is? Would I get the information in a timely fashion? Fortunately it was simply a dry run, this time.

Looks like the Tsunami may reach us, but will not be powerful enough to be damaging. The watch has been downgraded to an advisory.

Does make you think about the next time.

From the NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center...

BULLETIN
TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 3
NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
1023 AM HST TUE SEP 29 2009

TO - CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII

SUBJECT - TSUNAMI WATCH CANCELLATION...TSUNAMI ADVISORY IN EFFECT

THE TSUNAMI WATCH IS CANCELLED FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII EFFECTIVE AT 1023 AM HST AND A TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME - 0748 AM HST 29 SEP 2009
COORDINATES - 15.3 SOUTH 171.0 WEST
LOCATION - SAMOA ISLANDS REGION
MAGNITUDE - 8.3 MOMENT
MAGNITUDE - 8.0 RICHTER (MS)

MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY

GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL PER
------------------- ----- ------ ----- --------------- -----
RAROTONGA CK 21.2S 159.8W 1951Z 0.47M / 1.5FT 08MIN
APIA UPOLU WS 13.8S 171.8W 1832Z 0.70M / 2.3FT 08MIN
PAGO PAGO AS 14.3S 170.7W 1812Z 1.57M / 5.1FT 04MIN

LAT - LATITUDE (N-NORTH, S-SOUTH)
LON - LONGITUDE (E-EAST, W-WEST)
TIME - TIME OF THE MEASUREMENT (Z IS UTC IS GREENWICH TIME)
AMPL - TSUNAMI AMPLITUDE MEASURED RELATIVE TO NORMAL SEA LEVEL.
IT IS ...NOT... CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT.
VALUES ARE GIVEN IN BOTH METERS(M) AND FEET(FT).
PER - PERIOD OF TIME IN MINUTES(MIN) FROM ONE WAVE TO THE NEXT.

EVALUATION

BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA A MAJOR TSUNAMI IS NOT EXPECTED TO STRIKE THE STATE OF HAWAII. HOWEVER SEA LEVEL CHANGES AND STRONG CURRENTS MAY OCCUR ALONG THE COAST THAT COULD BE A HAZARD TO SWIMMERS...BOATERS AND BEACHES. THEREFORE THE TSUNAMI WATCH FOR HAWAII IS CANCELLED BUT A TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT.

THE ESTIMATED TIME SUCH EFFECTS MIGHT BEGIN IS 100 PM HST TUE 29 SEP 2009

UNLESS FURTHER INFORMATION IS RECEIVED THE ADVISORY IS IN EFFECTUNTIL 700 PM HST TUE 29 SEP 2009

THIS WILL BE THE FINAL MESSAGE ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS ADDITIONAL DATA ARE RECEIVED

So my phone is beeping again... Messages from Hawai'i County Civil Defense. This is turning out to be a fairly useful service. Most of the messages are road closures due to auto accidents and similar day to day issues. But on this island with a limited number of critical roads, these can be quite useful. If you live on the island I can recommend you sign up for these messages.

This morning's message was a bit different... "Mag 7.9 earthquake occurred near Samoa" This gets my attention, 7.9 is a strong quake, with the source located west of the islands. Thus the Kohala coast, with our favorite beaches, resorts and reefs, is threatened.

Further messages and news reports have confirmed a tsunami in the area near the quake and for parts of the Pacific the watch has been upgraded to a warning. Hawai'i is still under watch, with no word from the buoy network yet if a tsunami is headed our way. If so the arrival would be just after 1pm local time.

From the NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. Apparently the initial estimate has been upgraded to a magnitude 8.3...

TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 2
HIZ001>003-005>009-012>014-016>021-023>026-292059-
/O.CON.PHEB.TS.A.0001.090929T1859Z-000000T0000Z/
BULLETIN
TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 2
NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
857 AM HST TUE SEP 29 2009
TO - CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII
SUBJECT - TSUNAMI WATCH SUPPLEMENT

A TSUNAMI WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII. AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS NOTE MOMENT MAGNITUDE INCREASE TO 8.3

ORIGIN TIME - 0748 AM HST 29 SEP 2009
COORDINATES - 15.3 SOUTH 171.0 WEST
LOCATION - SAMOA ISLANDS REGION
MAGNITUDE - 8.3 MOMENT
MAGNITUDE - 8.0 RICHTER (MS)

MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY
GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL PER
------------------- ----- ------ ----- --------------- -----
APIA UPOLU WS 13.8S 171.8W 1832Z 0.70M / 2.3FT 08MIN
PAGO PAGO AS 14.3S 170.7W 1812Z 1.57M / 5.1FT 04MIN
LAT - LATITUDE (N-NORTH, S-SOUTH)
LON - LONGITUDE (E-EAST, W-WEST)
TIME - TIME OF THE MEASUREMENT (Z IS UTC IS GREENWICH TIME)
AMPL - TSUNAMI AMPLITUDE MEASURED RELATIVE TO NORMAL SEA LEVEL.

IT IS ...NOT... CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT. VALUES ARE GIVEN IN BOTH METERS(M) AND FEET(FT). PER - PERIOD OF TIME IN MINUTES(MIN) FROM ONE WAVE TO THE NEXT.

EVALUATION

BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA A TSUNAMI MAY HAVE BEEN GENERATED BY THIS EARTHQUAKE THAT COULD BE DESTRUCTIVE ON COASTAL AREAS EVEN FAR FROM THE EPICENTER. AN INVESTIGATION IS UNDERWAY TO DETERMINE IF THERE IS A TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII. IF TSUNAMI WAVES IMPACT HAWAII THE ESTIMATED EARLIEST ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST TSUNAMI WAVE IS 0111 PM HST TUE 29 SEP 2009

MESSAGES WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER AS CONDITIONS WARRANT.

A big hat tip to Larry Geller (Disappeared News) and one of his readers, for passing along a link to a very interesting article on the subject of truth, or the lack thereof, in the public sphere and political discussion. The Politics of Lying and the Culture of Deceit in Obama's America: The Rule of Damaged Politics by political commentator Henry A. Giroux, discusses the tactic of lying as used in modern media by politicians and media personalities. The article tends to the extreme, but it is unfortunately true, even if you could argue about the degree. I see some signs that our current administration is attempting to break away from this path, but they face a daunting challenge in doing so as their opponents have fully embraced these tactics.

Oddly enough, just as I was halfway through the article, the playlist on my iPod reached Rush's Witch Hunt. Released almost three decades ago, but more accurate than ever...

They say there are strangers who threaten us
in our immigrants and infidels
They say there is strangeness too dangerous
in our theaters and bookstore shelves
That those who know what's best for us
must rise and save us from ourselves

Quick to judge
Quick to anger
Slow to understand
Ignorance and prejudice
and fear walk hand in hand

The MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging) spacecraft is again approaching Mercury for it's third flyby of the inner planet. This will occur tomorrow, September 29th. This is the last flyby the craft will execute before settling into a science orbit around Mercury in March of 2011.

During the flyby MESSENGER is expected to take more than 1,500 photos, further mapping the surface of this small world. In the previous two flybys the spacecraft has performed flawlessly, providing the first high quality pictures of Mercury and revealing much of the planet for the first time. Keep tuned to the MESSENGER website when the pictures begin to stream in just after tomorrow's flyby.

Another stunningly beautiful image of Saturn from the Cassini Mission and the Cassini Imaging Team. The image is all the more sublime for the lighting conditions. Taken just a day after equinox, sunlight strikes the rings almost exactly on edge, leaving much of the ring system in shadow. Instead of the brightly lit rings we expect in an image of Saturn, your see a soft glow where sunlight is just beginning to relight the inner ring structure. Across the cloud tops of the planet, the rings cast a razor thin shadow

The image is a composite of 75 separate images taken in quick succession. The multiple images were needed to encompass the entire scene as well as using the multiple filters needed to properly capture the colors. This and many other images of the ring system taken as Saturn experiences equinox are revealing the structure of the rings and the related moonlets in unprecedented ways. Scientists are learning that the rings, once thought to be very flat and only ten meter thick, actually have a great deal of vertical structure.

The small version posted here does absolutely no justice to the full size image available at the Planetary Photojournal website. Go get the full size image, it is 7227x3847 pixels and 633kb of beauty. Better yet, get the full size image, crop it down and set it as the desktop image for your computer to enjoy for a while.

The interferometer does not often make the sort of discoveries that get much news or public attention. Which is unfortunate, as this instrument is being used to understand the basic processes by which solar systems form. The interferometer can detect the dust structures that exist very near the star, the dust from which planets like our Earth can form. A number of scientists have come to Keck to use this unique instrument, it is nice to see some of the results...

Keck Observatory Press Release...

Keck Interferometer Nuller Spots Double Dust Cloud

KAMUELA, Hawaii (Sept. 24, 2009) — Linking the twin, 10-meter telescopes in Hawaii, astronomers at the W. M. Keck Observatory discovered an extended, double-layered dust disk orbiting 51 Ophiuchi, a star that is 410 light-years from Earth. It is the first time the Keck Interferometer Nuller instrument has identified such a compact cloud around a star so far away.

M31, The Andromeda Galaxy is always lovely and rewarding to photograph. Note the satellite dwarf galaxies, M110 above and right of the large galaxy. But also the small elliptical M32, directly below the core of M31. North is up in this image.

The Andromeda Galaxy is something I have imaged before, but I shot again in an attempt to improve the results. A good shot, but it could be even better, I had some trouble with variations in the background of the image. I will probably shoot this again while it is very nicely placed in the sky. I wonder about trying ISO800 instead of ISO1600 may reduce the noise, but use longer exposures to overcome the lower gain? Time to try some variations to improve my technique.

I am officially toast. A full day of pulling cable through the telescope structure. This means up and down sets of ladders and stairs, multiple times, at an altitude of 13,600ft (4,100m). 500ft of cable, untold hundreds of nylon zip-ties, a few bruises, and one bloody knuckle. At times I was hanging onto the telescope structure with nothing below me but 60ft of open air, in a full climbing/fall harness and tied off. Try to hold on with one hand and fish a zip-tie around with the other, not easy.

Exhausted is the word.

I am volunteering at the VIS tonight, so all I have to do is ride down to HP and have dinner in the cafeteria. Hopefully some food, drink and some rest in thicker air will have me back in action for the evening.

With my current compact carry camera lost at sea, I needed a camera for a couple weeks until the Canon G11 begins shipping. In the meantime it occurred to me it may be interesting to pull out my first digital camera, a Nikon Coolpix 995 purchased new in 2001. I have not used this camera in many years and I was curious how cameras had changed. How would this veteran 3.1Mpix camera fare in use, when compared to my experience with more modern cameras. More immediately, would it even turn on and take an image after five years in storage.

I had delayed quite a while before taking the digital plunge, refusing to easily give up the beautiful quality of 35mm transparency film. Before purchasing the camera I had done a fair amount of research, the result was my decision to buy the Nikon Coolpix 995. In retrospect this turned out to be a very good decision indeed, the 995 proved to be a great camera. The Coolpix 995 is considered a classic by many experts in digital imaging, setting the standard by which contemporary cameras were judged. This was to be my experience, a very positive introduction to the era of digital photography and a great many wonderful photographs.

Pulling out the camera and all of the associated gear, I am surprised to see how many of the accessories I have and had forgotten about. I have both the wide angle and telephoto adapters, three batteries, a programmable shutter release, a full set of filters and more. I have a charger with both wall and automotive power adapters. All of the original cables are present as well as a set of four 128Mb compact flash cards.

Another surprise is the size, the camera is big. I just did not remember the bulk of this camera body. The size has one benefit, a full sized grip feels good in the hand. But it quickly becomes clear this is this is no small modern compact. The camera will not even fit in the compact camera bag that the Canon G9 fit into with room to spare. The twist body continues to be a very nice ergonomic solution, the ability to twist the lens to the needed angle with the screen in the most useful position is one of the best features of this camera series and a luxury I miss on current cameras.

As feared, the batteries prove to be in poor shape. One of the three will not charge, one shows a low charge state after only a few moments in the camera. The original Nikon battery appears to be usable, need to get a few frames on it to see what remains for charge capacity.

One advantage of the 995 is the camera can accept disposable lithium 245 packs in place of the rechargeable lithium battery packs. When this was my main camera I usually kept a couple on hand as backups for when this power hungry camera exhausted the rechargeable packs. To my surprise two of these spares were still in the camera bag, still in sealed packaging. The shelf dates on the packages are well into the future, 2012 and 2017 expiration dates!!

First step, power on the camera. It actually works! Even better, it focused and took an image when I pressed the shutter button. Second step, go through the menus and reset the time, date and some other setups to configure the camera. Compared to the complex menus of current cameras there isn't much here, a single screen of options, given the small 1.8" screen that isn't much.

With a charged battery and the camera bag setup again I am ready to take a few pictures.

IC1396 is an object that has long been on my to-do list, but have never actually gotten it done, until this weekend. A large nebula complex perfectly suited to the field size of the 20Da and the TeleVue 76mm APO. A lot going on in this nebula, with dark lanes an other structure to add to the interest.

Almost three hours of exposures on this one, pushing much longer in an attempt to reduce the low level noise through much of the images. By the time I threw a few ruined frames out I had thirteen exposures at eight minutes each, for 2.4 hours of usable material. The unusable frames were due to small tracking errors. Not certain what cause the issues, maybe cables dragging, maybe just a result of the gusty breeze that plagued the evening. I will have to take a look at my setup and the parameters in the autoguider next time out to double check everything.

Another good excuse for a celebration, a town wide party celebrating the rich past and traditions of Waimea's ranching and paniolo traditions. A parade of the horses, riders, dancers and community groups that make up the fabric of community in this small ranching town. This is the 34th annnual Waimea Paniolo Parade.

With the Hawai'i belt road closed, it is horses that parade through town and down the main highway in place of the usual automotive snarl. A glimpse of the days when all the traffic that moved through Waimea was horse powered.

Deb and I arrived before the roads were closed with enough time for a breakfast at Hawaiian Style Cafe. As expected the cafe was jammed, more than a few parade goers with the same plan... grabbing an excellent breakfast before the events began. Service was slow as the staff struggled with the crowd, but worth the wait, the quality of the food had not suffered. Grabbing the last bites we headed for the parade route a couple blocks away. A few marchers had already gone past, but we managed to catch most of the parade.

With a stroke of luck and despite our late arrival I claim a spot of fence with a good view of the street just in front of Parker School. Just a few feet away an announcer with a sound system introduces each participant in the parade. Suddenly each rider gains a name and history.

On the steps of Parker School an ali'i held court, flanked by family and retainers in feather robes, elaborate headdresses proclaiming rank. Around the chief a full squad of warriors kept guard with traditional weapons. Long koa spears and daggers, a club lined with sharks teeth reminded visitors of the past when such weapons were more than ceremonial. I watch as a tourist who strayed to close was chased off with a little less seriousness than might have been the case centuries past.

Each group in the parade stops to pay respect to the court, with baskets of offerings placed at the base of the stairs. Dancers and musicians start their performance anew as they pause in the street.

After the parade everyone heads for Waimea park and the Ho'olaulea. A stage features local performers, as we stroll ukulele music booms from the loudspeakers and across the ball fields. many booths feature a wide array of food, but after a big breakfast even the many savory smells fail to tempt us. We opt for some shaved ice instead.

A large tent filled with arts and crafts is our destination. Christmas shopping season looms and we stroll through the crowd looking for gifts. Dozens of vendors with everything from fine art and jewelry to woven goods of coconut fronds and quilted place mats are offered. We do not leave empty handed, a few selections destined for packages come December.

The details continue to be refined for the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) lunar impact mission. Now that we know the final target selected, the crater Cabeus-A near the Moon's south pole, we also know the time of impact. The Centaur upper stage will impact at October 9, 2009 at 11:30 UT (1:30 HST), +/- 30 minutes, followed a few moments later by the LCROSS Shepherding Spacecraft. While there is still a half hour uncertainty in the impact time, this will be refined to within seconds as the impact date nears.

The impact should be visible in modest telescopes allowing observation by anyone who is interested and in the right place at the right time. The impact time was chosen to allow ground based observations by the telescopes in Hawai'i and Western North America. This includes those of us in Hawai'i, both professional and amateur. Among the telescopes atop Mauna Kea participating in the mission will be Keck, Gemini North, CFHT, Subaru and the IRTF, essentially all of the optical telescopes equipped to observe the impact.