Author: Andrew

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

Nordic Quest 2013

Sorting through thousands of photos, dozens of video clips, and assembling time-lapse from yet more thousands of frames, all to create a mere five minutes of video. It is quite the chore, but also a lot of fun. In a way I relive the voyage, each photo a cue to recall all of the little experiences that make a great trip.

Having another couple photographers along provided a great source of material, it is not all of my photos. Randy and Nancy sent me some of their best, which have been woven in to create a better video. We got lucky on the weather, while it was cloudy and rainy for much of the time, we had a glorious day for visiting the ice at the top of Glacier Bay. We were lucky with wildlife as well… Orca, grizzly, humpback whales bubble netting, mountain goats, eagles, even a set of fresh wolf prints on a beach, all of the big game.

It was fun…

Nordic Quest 2013 from Andrew Cooper on Vimeo.

Scarface

Not where I expected it, a tiny cavity in an otherwise sheer rock wall covered with sponge. It was red… A flash bright red in the dive light had my attention quickly. I could not see the fish well enough to ID it, red is uncommon enough that I set up and fired anyway, just taking a photo was hard enough in the surge.

Only after downloading the photo I realized it was a scarface blennie…

Scarface Blennie
Scarface blennie (Cirripectes vanderbilti), in a small crevice, depth 15ft.

Comet? Where?

There is one question we all have to ask when a beautiful comet graces the skies…

C/2007 N3 Lulin
Comet C/2007 N3 Lulin on the evening of 26 Feb 2009
Where to look?

Like any other solar system object, comets move against the sky. Even worse, when close to the Earth or Sun they can be moving so quickly against the stars that coordinates quickly become out of date. Aiming a telescope using coordinates a day old, or sometimes even only an hour old will result in a view of empty sky. A few stars perhaps, but no comet.

You need a table of coordinated calculated for regular time intervals, an ephemeris. Alternately you need a set of coordinates calculated for the exact time you will be looking.

Continue reading “Comet? Where?”

Saturn at Superior Conjunction

Today at 01:29HST Saturn will pass through superior conjunction with the Sun. The planet will reappear in the dawn sky later in the month.

On the 23rd and 24th Saturn will be quite near the brightening comet C/2012 S1 ISON and the planet Mercury, creating an odd planet and comet conjunction. The trio will have about 5° separation. Even more odd, the comet 2p/Enke will be inside the triangle formed by the trio, probably at 7th magnitude.

Seeing Venus in the Daytime

It is possible to see planets in the daytime. Both Jupiter and Venus are bright enough to see fairly easily in full daylight if conditions are right. You need to know where and how to look, but once glimpsed they are fairly easily seen. It is the knowing how that makes it possible. Try these simple hints…

  • Try when the planets are far from the glare of the Sun, in the first hours after dawn or last hours of the day are best.
  • Clean air is necessary. If the air is hazy, dusty or smoggy it will hide the planets from view, particularly when near the Sun. There will just be too much solar glare to pick out the planet. For the same reason try when the planet is high in the sky and you are looking through much less air.
  • The human eye will relax and defocus if there is nothing to focus on. This happens when looking at a plain expanse of blue sky. You could be looking right at the planet and not see it. A few puffy clouds around, or better yet, the Moon, will give the eye something to focus on, allowing the planet to be easily seen.
  • Put the Sun out of sight to reduce glare. Simply position yourself in the shadow of a tree or building to get a better view.
  • Pick a day when the Moon is near the object you are looking for, it will provide a simple signpost to the correct location.

It is this last hint that can be particularly useful today. Venus is about 8° degrees south of the Moon today. It helps that Venus is near maximum elongation, as far as it will get from the Sun for this evening apparition. If you can find the Moon high in the midday sky check just below it for Venus. The planet will be about a sixteen lunar diameters away from the Moon, seen as a bright star-like object.

Have a try.

Teardrop

The little teardrop butterfly was playing peek-a-boo with me. It would peek out, the strobe would fire, it would dart back into the coral. Repeat cycle…

This little fish had good reason to be shy, it is a favorite of the aquarium collectors.

Teardrop Butterflyfish
Teardrop butterflyfish (Chaetodon unimaculatus) peeks out from under cover

Sriracha Shortage?

It was horrible. Yelling, screaming shoppers cram the aisle, while store security is helpless to intervene in the mayhem. A mob of shoppers fighting over the last red bottle. Black Friday sales? No. Just the struggle for the last shipment of Sriracha. Looming shortages have created a nationwide panic. Where will we get the spice!

Maybe not… A judge has ordered a partial shutdown of production at the Huy Fong Foods plant in Irwindale, California. It is not expected to impact supply, but fans of the sauce are jittery, with the possibility of a sriracha shortage making news across the country.

Supplies are still plentiful at our local supermarket. Just as a precaution I bought the large bottle.

Sriracha
Bottles of Sriracha on the shelf at the Village Market in Waikoloa