And now there are two…

The second feline arrived this week. Another bundle of energy wrapped in fur is now bouncing around the house.

Rasalhague
Rasalhague mugging for the camera
As mentioned with Electra, household rules dictate that the chosen name is taken from stellar catalogues. I had the name chosen years ago and have oft threatened to use it… Rasalhague!

That look on your face? I have seen it already, on the face of a few folks when I mention the name. This includes the face of the Humane Society officer who gave me that same look. Try that again… I carefully pronounced it… Rass-al-ha-gway. She just shook her head and then asked me to spell it so she could type the name into the computer to complete the adoption paperwork.

Rasalhague is the brightest star of the constellation Ophiuchus.

You are making that look again! Ophiuchus?

You know the constellation! It should have been one of the signs of the zodiac, as familiar as Leo, Sagittarius, and Aquarius. The planets and Sun do go through this pattern of stars, but for some reason the ancient astrologers decided to ignore it. I like the constellation, situated just above the galactic core it is rich in targets for a telescope.

The name will, of course, be shortened to Ras for everyday use.

So far the name fits, even if corrupted to Rascal or other variations. While the name may roughly translate to “Head of the Serpent Collector”, there are no snakes in Hawai’i to collect. We have already found one dead gecko in the house. It appeared to have run afoul of the kittens, we just do not know which one.

Anything stringy or dangling, remotely snake-like is attacked. We have had to put away anything with a cord. Even so I found that the headphones I use with my iPad were only working in one channel, no sound to the left ear. Fixed, though the cord is now eight inches shorter.

A single kitten in the house is a shock, two is sheer mayhem. The first day was non-stop chasing and wrestling. This has settled down to where they only attack each other every five minutes. There is hope… When you are not looking they are curled up with each other.

It is nice to have a lively house again, perhaps a mite too lively. I expect it will settle down… In a couple years.

Postcard from the Reef – Reef Rose

With the appearance, size and color of a rose, the moniker Reef Rose seems to fit. In reality these are the eggs of a large nudibranch, the Spanish dancer. Not at all hard to spot, I had been finding these for years before actually seeing the parent.

I always make a point to check the egg mass closely. There is another nudibranch, a tiny parasitic nudibranch that eats the eggs of the Spanish dancer, a species unsurprisingly called the egg-eating nudibranch.

The eggs of a Spanish Dancer nudibranch (Hexabranchus sanguineus) at Three Tables, Oahu

Perseid Meteor Shower

The Perseids are one of the most watched meteor showers. Occurring during northern hemisphere summer, the shower can be appreciated on a summer night. Quite a difference from the other reliable showers such as the Leonids and Quadrantids, that occur in November and January. Consider a warm summer evening under a dark sky full of stars, a picnic blanket, relaxing while shooting stars streak across the sky. What could be better?

The Perseid meteor shower occurs when the Earth passes through a stream of debris along the orbit of Comet Swift-Tuttle. This shower has been consistent throughout recorded history, mentioned in Chinese, Japanese and Korean records as early as the 1st century. Active from July 17th to August 24th, the shower will build slowly for weeks before the peak. A week before or after peak the shower can still be seen with around 20 meteors each hour. The shower is a northern hemisphere event, for southern observers the radiant never rises above the horizon.

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Working Together One Last Time

You could always tell when the interferometer was on-sky. Both telescopes would be pointed at the same object, both domes open to the same direction. Any other time you will find each Keck telescope doing its own thing. With the interferometer shut down, it will be an odd night indeed when the telescopes are pointed in the same direction.

The Last Interferometer Run
Both Keck telescopes observing the same object during the last night of interferometer observing.

Postcard from the Reef – Pustulose Nudibranch

The most common nudibranch I find on Kohala reefs. These fellows are active in the daytime and often found in the open. They are generally found on walls, or in the many small caves that penetrate local reefs.

Pustulose Nudibranch
Pustulose Nudibranch (Phyllidiella pustulosa) on a wall at 25′ depth, Puako