Venus Appears in the Sunset

Venus is currently beginning an evening apparition. This evening the planet should be visible about 10° above the setting Sun. At magnitude -4 it should be easy to spot with a good western horizon. The bright planet will spend the remainder of 2013 in the evening sky, with maximum elongation occurring on Oct 31st.

Tonight also features a pairing with a very thin crescent Moon. The Moon will be a mere 1.3% illuminated and be located 2° south of Venus. A very nice pairing indeed!

Look forward to a number of planetary conjunctions in the coming months. With Jupiter approaching solar conjunction and Venus leaving, the two will cross paths nicely.

Sifting Through the Atmospheres of Far-off Worlds

JPL press release…

HR8799
Three exoplanets orbiting a young star 140 light years away are captured using Keck Observatory’s near-infrared adaptive optics. Image credit Christian Marois, NRC and Bruce Macintosh, LLNL

Gone are the days of being able to count the number of known planets on your fingers. Today, there are more than 800 confirmed exoplanets — planets that orbit stars beyond our sun — and more than 2,700 other candidates. What are these exotic planets made of? Unfortunately, you cannot stack them in a jar like marbles and take a closer look. Instead, researchers are coming up with advanced techniques for probing the planets’ makeup.

One breakthrough to come in recent years is direct imaging of exoplanets. Ground-based telescopes have begun taking infrared pictures of the planets posing near their stars in family portraits. But to astronomers, a picture is worth even more than a thousand words if its light can be broken apart into a rainbow of different wavelengths.

Those wishes are coming true as researchers are beginning to install infrared cameras on ground-based telescopes equipped with spectrographs. Spectrographs are instruments that spread an object’s light apart, revealing signatures of molecules. Project 1640, partly funded by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., recently accomplished this goal using the Palomar Observatory near San Diego.

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Partial Solar Eclipse from Hawai’i

We were all ready to view to eclipse from Keck HQ in Waimea. The gear was ready to go, our astronomers setup to answer questions, the public invited…

It rained.

Not to be deterred I grabbed my little telescope and headed for the Sun. The satellite showed a reasonable possibility of clear skies in Kawaihae. As I rolled into the parking lot at Pu’u Kohala Heiau National Historic Site I found the hole in the clouds needed for eclipse photography.

I was not the first there, I met another gentleman setup with a 70mm Meade ETX, we chatted as I set up beside him. I found out later that a couple of the gals from CFHT were setup at Spencer Beach just below the heiau. For clear skies this was about the only reliable place on the island other than the summit.

I quickly setup my little TV-76mm and got the images I was looking for at maximum. We only got to 47% here on the big island, but still worth the effort to see.

Partial Solar Eclipse
A partial solar eclipse from Kawaihae, 9 May 2013

Partial Solar Eclipse Reminder

Annular Eclipse
Jan 15th, 2010 annular solar eclipse, photo by Dan Birchall
A reminder that this afternoon we will have the opportunity to see a partial solar eclipse. For viewers further south, in Australia and across the South Pacific, this will be an annular eclipse. For viewers here in the Hawaiian islands this will be a deep partial solar eclipse, with well over 40% of the Sun obscured by the Moon. This is enough to produce a noticeable drop in the Sun’s brightness at mid-day.

Please exercise caution when viewing the Sun! Use appropriate eye protection or indirect observing techniques to project an image of the Sun. The link at the start of this paragraph leads to a great discussion on viewing the Sun safely. As always the single best source on the web (or anywhere) for eclipse and transit information is Fred Espenak’s eclipse website at NASA. Stop by whenever you have a question on upcoming events as well as viewing and photography tips.

During a deep partial such as this one check out the shadows under nearby vegetation. Small gaps in leaves can act like pinhole cameras projecting small crescent images of the Sun.

Location Begins Maximum Ends Altitude Azimuth Magnitude
Honolulu 14:23 15:48 17:01 43 275 44
Hilo 14:31 15:56 17:05 61 270 47

New Moon

Young Moon
A very young moon over Waikoloa, this is only 26 hours after new, visible to the unaided eye as a sliver in the fading glow of sunset
New Moon will occur today at 14:29HST.

An annular solar eclipse will sweep across Australia and the southern Pacific Ocean. For viewers in the Hawaiian Islands this eclipse will be seen as a deep partial eclipse, with a maximum of over 40% of the Sun obscured.

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Postcard from the Reef – Frogfish

Six years I have been diving the reefs of the Big Island. Despite this I have never seen a frogfish. They are rare, but not that rare!

A flashing light catches my attention from across the open coral. Pete is signaling, he does not do that often, when he does it is usually worthwhile. Pete had been working one wall while I worked the other side of a small channel in the reef. So far I had found nothing unusual.

There it was, a bright yellow frogfish just at the edge of a small plate of coral. Not only a nice find, but a nicely posed one as well, conveniently placed for photography. By the time Pete and I had finished photographing this fish it probably had sunburn.

I owe Pete a beer.

Commerson's Frogfish
Commerson’s Frogfish (Antennarius commerson) at 25′ depth

AstroDay 2013

It was fun. It is always fun!

AstroDay 2013
AstroDay 2013!
It is AstroDay, a chance for all of the observatories to do a little community outreach.

Prince Kuhio Plaza is the largest mall on the island. Perhaps small by large city standards it is still the focal point of shopping in Hilo. The observatories and a few other organizations use tables all through the branches of the mall. In the center of it all is a stage with live music, giveaways and other activities for the crowd. The whole thing is a great family day and a great outreach opportunity.

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STEMpede at Parker

Take two old scanners, two VCR’s, a stereo amplifier and tape deck. Place on a table with an ample supply of screwdrivers, wire cutters and other tools. Mix in a dozen middle school kids and observe the results!

As you might expect a little chaos appears. Chaos is good… Embrace the chaos! Use the result to have a little fun while learning.

Electronic Sacrifices
A few electronic sacrifices await the arrival of the students.
The event is STEMpede, a day filled with science, technology, engineering and math at the Parker School here in Waimea. With Keck Observatory essentially right next door, it makes sense that our engineers and astronomers can put on quite a day for the kids.We were joined by one of the engineers from Liquid Robotics and a couple local physicians and paramedics for a variety of activities and talks.

I was not going to simply talk, I have always believed learning is best done by hand. Some of the gear was from my own garage, some off the electronics disposal pallet at work. A lineup of old electronics greeted the kids, then I opened the tool-bag!

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