Keauhou Bay
Author: Andrew
An electrical engineer, amateur astronomer, and diver, living and working on the island of Hawaiʻi.
Full Moon
Full Moon will occur today at 02:29HST.
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.
Continue reading “Full Moon”Shore Party
Venus at Superior Conjunction
Today Venus is passing through superior conjunction, passing behind the Sun as seen from our earthbound point of view.
Venus will reappear in the sunset in mid-September, a brilliant star like object low on the horizon, just above the glow of sunset.
When Venus does reappear we can expect a few UFO reports by people unfamiliar with the normal workings of our skies. In late 2018, when it last emerged in the dawn we had a few such reports here on the island, including a very nice video and folks who could not accept the fact that the “strange light” was simply a bright planet.
Venus will spend the remainder of 2019 in the evening sky, reaching maximum elongation on March 24th, 2020.
Geraniums
Mercury at Maximum Elongation
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 September 3rd.
This is a modest apparition, with the planet only 19° from the Sun.
Continue reading “Mercury at Maximum Elongation”Chinese Lion Dance
Perseid Meteor Shower
Over the next week the Perseid meteor shower will peak. As the most reliable shower each year this is also the most viewed meteor shower. Plentiful shooting stars combined with warm summer evenings makes this shower the easiest and most comfortable to view across much of the northern hemisphere. Quite a difference from the other reliable showers such as the Leonids and Quadrantids, that occur in November and January. Consider a warm summer night 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.
Continue reading “Perseid Meteor Shower”A Night Between Hurricanes at Kaʻohe
Our monthly dark skies star party had been originally planned for the night of July 27th, a few days before full Moon. With the governor’s emergency order all access to the mauna was closed, and the gals at the DLNR office let me know I could not get a permit. With that I put out a message I hate to post… Star party cancelled.
One week later and things look better, the emergency order has been rescinded and we again have access to the mauna, no problem getting our permit.
The problem this time looked to be weather, no big problem… Just a couple of hurricanes.
Continue reading “A Night Between Hurricanes at Kaʻohe”Was the real summit of Mauna Kea destroyed to make way for a telescope?
The idea that one of the existing telescopes sits on what was the real summit of Mauna Kea is persistent.
and NO there is NO RECTIFYING of the DAMAGES TO MAUNA KEA!!! Damnit man they sheered OFF the summit to INSERT the Kecks into The Pu’u that was the SUMMIT. What an ignorant thing to say!!!
Susan Rosier in a Facebook comment, 4 Aug 2019
While not a common claim this idea keeps popping up. It was even repeated by Kealoha Pisciotta under oath during the contested case. In her case she claimed it was the nearby summit ridge that was shaved off, and they “just moved the summit”.
Continue reading “Was the real summit of Mauna Kea destroyed to make way for a telescope?”