Andrew

Top Posts of 2019

The top posts of 2019 are a little different than I have seen in the past. Usually it is a mix of a few big hit posts that were linked on other sites and a lot of older posts that have long lives.

TMT Rendering — An overhead view of the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope, credit TMT Observatory Corporation

This year DarkerView’s traffic was dominated by the controversy on Mauna Kea. Publishing a series of posts on specific issues resulted in a lot of shares, mostly on FaceBook that drove traffic.

TMT supporters would routinely link DarkerView to provide more information in the raging online arguments that drove so much of the controversy. I can only hope that the posts had some effect in countering the dizzying amount of misinformation that featured in these arguments.

1	A Compendium of Anti-TMT Myths	5,047
2	Keep it Running	3,318
3	Where can you fly a drone in Hawaii?	3,254
4	A Backyard Telescope Pier	1,763
5	The Mavic Air Panorama Modes	1,410
6	Remove the abandoned telescopes?	1,328
7	Will TMT use nuclear power?	1,204
8	Jan 20th Total Lunar Eclipse	1,017
9	Are there TMT jobs for locals?	1,003
10	Perfboard	704
11	The observatories pay no rent?	695
12	Restoring the Cave Astrola	680
13	The motivation for TMT is greed and profit?	667
14	Old School Drive Corrector	657
15	Will TMT be the biggest building on the island?	652

Of course the Backyard Telescope Pier article continues to be the most popular long term post. This post has been on every DarkerView top post list since I started the blog. A number of other similar reference posts can be found in the top post lists.

Overall DarkerView had 74,125 page views from 39,679 unique visitors, a large increase from the 46,707 views of 2018, almost double.

Betelgeuse Fading

Something is definitely not right with Orion. For anyone familiar with the sky the constellation just looks wrong with Betelgeuse at half its normal brilliance.

We have long known Betelgeuse is a dying star, in the last stages of its life. Old stars tend to be unstable, changing in brightness. Betelgeuse has always varied a bit, but this is the largest change on record.

The magnitude of Betelgeuse over the past 35 years, data from the AAVSO

It is odd to see such an iconic star change so dramatically, a reminder that not even the stars are permanent.

Orion with a faint Betelgeuse changing the appearance of this familiar constellation, photo taken December 29, 2019

The photo tends to flatten the magnitude of stars, the difference is not as obvious. You need to step outside and look for yourself. Orion currently rises late in the evening.

Only in Hawaii

A Full Night at Kaʻohe

A last star party of the year, actually the last star party of the decade.

'Scopes in the Twilight — A pair of 8″ telescopes in the twilight, with a setting Moon and Venus over Hualalai

With new Moon in the middle of Christmas week I had the choice of the weekend before Christmas, or the weekend after. Guessing that attendance would be better in the quiet days between holidays I chose December 28th as our monthly new Moon star party.

The site was, as usual our Ka’ohe observing site on the side of Mauna Kea. The weather was nearly ideal, clear, not very cold, and almost no wind at the site.

Arriving at the site to find beautiful, clear skies we marveled at the sunset scene. A brilliant Venus and three day old crescent Moon hung above the fading sunset and Hualālai.

Jupiter at Superior Conjunction

Jupiter 14Apr2016 — Jupiter on April 15, 2016

Today Jupiter passes through superior conjunction, rounding the far side of the Sun as seen from our earthbound vantage point.

Jupiter will re-emerge in the dawn sky towards the end of the January. Look for the planet low in the glow of dawn, rising higher each day.

Jupiter will pass through opposition on July 13th, 2020, crossing into the evening sky.

New Moon

Young Moon — A very young moon over Waikoloa

New Moon will occur today at 19:13HST.

An annular solar eclipse will sweep across the Indian Ocean, Southern India, and Indonesia during this new Moon.

This coming weekend, Dec 29th, offers an excellent dark night for observing. Get out to enjoy some holiday stars!

Winter Solstice

The winter solstice will occur at 18:19HST today.

The Sun has reached the most southerly declination it will achieve this year. After today the Sun begins to move north in our skies.

Today will be the shortest day of the year for those of us located in the northern hemisphere.

Today is considered the start of winter for most cultures in the northern hemisphere, or the start of summer for those in the southern hemisphere.

2019 Apsides and Seasons
Event	Universal Time		Hawaii Standard Time
Perihelion	Jan 03	05:20UT	Jan 02	19:20HST
Spring Equinox	Mar 20	21:58UT	Mar 20	11:58HST
Summer Solstice	Jun 21	15:54UT	Jun 21	05:54HST
Aphelion	Jul 04	22:11UT	Jul 04	12:11HST
Fall Equinox	Sep 23	07:50UT	Sep 22	21:50HST
Winter Solstice	Dec 22	04:19UT	Dec 21	18:19HST
Data from US Naval Observatory Data Services

Full Moon

Full Moon will occur today at 19:12HST.

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.

Stacking Stone

The wall building project is now well along, with sections of completed wall and the outline what it will look like when I am done now apparent.

Tools ready to hand as work continues in the backyard

At this point there is 18 ft of completed wall, another 52 lineal feet of various height walls in various stages of completion from first course laid to nearly topped out. Another 11 feet will be started shortly to complete the first phase of wall building.

To create this much wall over five tons of rock has been loaded, driven 19 miles, unloaded, and hauled to the back yard. Twelve wheelbarrow loads per ton. About 70% of that rock has been stacked into the walls, the remainder in piles awaiting use.