Andrew

Snow

Last week we got a little snow atop the mauna. I forgot to post the photos I took as we were pulling out. Snow was building on the roads and summit lead made the call to end the day a little early…

The Subaru telescope seen as the snow starts to cover the ground

Getting the vehicles warmed up and defrosted before pulling out in heavy snow

Looking up at the Keck 2 dome as we pull out in the snow

We just received the Costco Christmas sales mailer. Every year there is a telescope featured, promoted as a gift. Not just slightly featured either, but included on the front page of the flyer, the first thing you see when you pick the mailer up.

The telescope this year is a Celestron Astromaster 130EQ, the typical small reflector on an equatorial mount. The deal includes several eyepieces, filters, and a cell phone adapter for afocal photography.

Those of us with long practical experience just cringe when we see such telescopes. These cheap telescopes are usually more of a frustration to would be amateur astronomers than useful. Cheap ‘scopes have deterred more folks from the hobby than we will ever know.

Mercury at Maximum Elongation

An evening conjunction of Mercury, Venus and Jupiter on 30 May, 2013

Today Mercury is passing through maximum elongation, the furthest it will rise above the rising Sun in the dawn sky. After today the planet will slide back into the Sun’s glare headed for superior conjunction on January 10th.

This is a modest apparition, with the planet only 20° from the Sun.

Backyard Work Site

Busy re-sculpting and terracing much of the back yard. A lot of work, but it feels good…

Tools ready to hand as work continues in the backyard

New Moon

Young Moon — A very young moon over Waikoloa

New Moon will occur today at 05:06HST.

Over the next few days a slim crescent Moon will slide through a number of bright planets low in the sunset including Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn.

This coming weekend, Nov. 30th, offers an excellent night for observing with a slim 4 day old Moon in the sunset. Get out and enjoy the dark!

A Foggy Night at Kaʻohe

Foggy? Well? Mostly the skies were the beautiful dark Mauna Kea skies we enjoy. Mostly. The fog did flirt with us much of the night, rolling over hard for about half an hour, blotting out the stars for a while.

The Phelps family enjoys the skies at Kaʻohe

Despite a dire forecast for moisture on the mauna, the weather at Kaʻohe was quite nice aside from a bit of fog. The big telescopes atop the mauna were closed for much of the night in fog and even a little light snow, while we were enjoying the stars in the eyepiece.

There were ten folks who drove up the mauna to enjoy the night… Maureen, Cathy, Andrew, John, Cliff, and myself. Plus all four members of the Phelps family with their own telescope.

The view after sunset was stunning, Jupiter and Venus in a close pair over the summit of Hualālai deep in the bright zodiacal light. The Milky Way arched over the northern sky from Sagittarius to Cassiopeia.

Venus and Jupiter

Observant sky watchers will have noticed that the two brightest planets in our skies have been drawing close together. Jupiter and Venus are currently about 2° apart. Sunday evening will see them at their closest for viewers in the islands at just under 1.5° apart. Monday will see the pair very slightly further apart at just over 1.5° separation.

Conjunction — Venus and Jupiter over the Keck 1 dome

After Monday the two will gradually separate further with Jupiter disappearing into the sunset in mid-December while Venus continues to climb further from the Sun until maximum elongation on March 24, 2020.

On Wednesday the 27th a thin crescent Moon will join these bright planets, just 5° below Jupiter. On Thursday the 28th the Moon will be 4° above Venus. The three should make for quite a spectacular sight in the glow of sunset.

A degree and a half separation will allow both to fit in the field of view of very low power telescopes and binoculars, a bit much to fit both in the field of view of most telescopes.

Postcard from the Summit – Mamane and Fogbow

As you descend from Hale Pohaku in the afternoon you often drive into the top of the clouds at about 6,000-8,000ft elevation. The transition from clear blue skies to fog is often stunningly breautiful, a zone where light does interesting things. This zone is haunted by ghostly phenomena… As long as the Sun angle is low you will see fogbows here…

Mamane & Fogbow — A favorite mamane tree framed by a fogbow along the Mauna Kea access road

Clear Skies

Full Moon

Full Moon will occur today at 03:34HST.

This evening look for the Moon rising in the east just as the Sun sets in the west. Across the Big Island this can often lead to moonbows as the low elevation moonlight interacts with fog and clouds.

Author: Andrew