Author: Andrew

An electrical engineer, amateur astronomer, and diver, living and working on the island of Hawaiʻi.

Orion Revisited

The Great Nebula of Orion is a beautiful object, the brightest nebulae in the sky. It is also quite easy to photograph, making it somewhat of a standard target. I, like many astrophotographers, use the nebula as something of calibration target to check new equipment and processes.

This shot was taken with a Canon 6D and a TV-76mm telescope, a combination I want to work with this summer. I also changed up my processing flow a bit, re-ordering the steps, to achieve better calibration. The result is a more neutral color tone in the original, I can then saturate the image to taste for display or printing. Th original might be a bit closer to true color. Of course, “true color” is a bit of an illusion in astrophotography, where everything is relative.

Orion Nebula
M42, The Orion Nebula, Canon 6D and TV-76mm, 16x240s+10x60s+10x15s @ISO6400

Vernal Equinox

The vernal or spring equinox occurs today at 06:57HST. Today there will be little difference between the length of the night when counted against the number of daylight hours. This is the first day of spring as marked by many cultures in the northern hemisphere.

2014 Solstices and Equinoxes
  UT HST
Perihelion Jan 4 05:59UT Jan 3 19:59HST
Vernal Equinox Mar 20 16:57UT Mar 20 06:57HST
Summer Solstice Jun 21 10:52UT Jun 21 00:52HST
Apehelion Jul 3 22:59UT Jul 3 12:59HST
Autumnal Equinox Sep 23 02:30UT Sep 22 16:30HST
Winter Solstice Dec 21 23:03UT Dec 21 13:03HST
 
Source: NASA Sky Calendar

 

Goat House Lava Tube

It is not really called Goat House. It is just that I have never heard another name, Goat House is what I have named the cave considering the lack of any better designation. The tube is no great secret, its existence is well known to longtime residents.

Goat Skull
A goat skull in the rubble at the entrance of Goat House Lava Tube
The grasslands around Waikoloa seem rather barren, useful only to the foraging cattle. Like the rest of the island these are old lava flows, and some not so very old. There are interesting volcanic features, including a number of hidden lava tubes.

This tube is found several miles out the power line road just above the village. The road starts across from the stables and heads straight south. There are side roads that go left and right, just go straight to the cave.

Along the way you find the mauka fence of the Waikoloa Dry Forest Initiative restoration effort. This fence keeps the goats out of a 275 acre area in an effort to preserve native trees like the Wiliwili. With some success it appears, the trees look pretty good. The wiliwili are strikingly beautiful trees, I am happy to see them thriving here.

Continue reading “Goat House Lava Tube”

Hawaiʻian Diacrital Test Post

This post is just a test of Hawaiʻian diacritical marks to check rendering on different systems. Let me know if this displays properly on your computer…

A bit of the Kumulipo…

O ke au i kahuli wela ka honua
O ke au i kahuli lole ka lani
O ke au i kukaʻiaka ka la
E ho’omalamalama i ka la
O ke au i Makaliʻi ka po
O ka Walewale hoʻokumu honua ia
O ke kumu o ka lipo
O ke kumu o ka Po i po ai
O ka Lipolipo, o ka lipolipo
O ka lipo o ka La, o ka lipo o ka Po
Po wale ho-i

A bit of text clipped from the UH College of Hawaiian Language website…

Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani
Koleke ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi

Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani ʻO ka ʻŌlelo ke Kaʻā o ka Mauli

Ua hoʻokumu ʻia ʻo Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani ma ke Kulanui o Hawaiʻi ma Hilo i ka MH 1997, ʻo ia ke Koleke ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi mua o ka honua nei a puni. Ua kapa ʻia kona inoa no ke aliʻi wahine ʻo Luka Keʻelikōlani Keanolani Kanāhoahoa ma muli o kona kūpaʻa wiwo ʻole ma hope o ka ʻōlelo a moʻomeheu Hawaiʻi.