Category: Astronomy

With four nights in the park I planned to do a little observing along with the planned hikes. situated on the south face of the island the park offers a view of southern skies objects that cannont be matched anywhere else in the 50 states.

The plan was simple… Getup in the wee dark hours and drive the 20 minutes to the Maunaiki Trailhead. I could then setup my little 6″ travel scope and observe the southern sky.

Arriving I at the trailhead I was not happy, unusual morning clouds covered the sky, not a star to be found. This is the Kaʻu Desert!! It is supppose to be dry and clear in the morning. My cursing had no effect on the clouds.

A quick look at the satellite imagery and I headed further down the road to the Halina Pali Overlook with some hope. It was dicey, but I was already driving around in the middle of the night, why not?

And behold… Clear skies. Somewhat. It had clearly rained in the night as everything was wet. But at least some of the sky was beautifully dark and clear. As long as the rainclouds looming in the east held off I could do what I suffered such an early alarm for.

Quickly setting up the little scope I found conditions were not bad, though I did have to hop about a bit to avoid some drifting clouds. There was usually some part of the sky clear… Use it!

NGC 5286 – Bright and obvious, small at 2′ diameter, unresolved, round with a bright center, the 4.6 magnitude M Cen is 4′ southeast

M68 – Bright and obvious, 3′ diameter, rich, not resolved, round with a bright and well concentrated core

NGC 4361 – Small, bright and obvious, a round 1′ disk with a bright central star and well defined extents, no color noted, no other structure noted

NGC 5139 – A spectacular swarm of stars, very bright and easy to sweep up, large at 30′ diameter, resolved, extremely rich, well concentrated with a exceptionally dense center that fades radially into a fine mist of stars, one cannot fathom such a region of the cosmos, a place where our mere common sense fails utterly

6″ RFT Makaiki Mk2, Hilina Pali Overlook HVNP, 9 Jan 2025

Close to astronomical dawn the clouds swept across the sky, a curtain to end the show. A few scattered raindrops had me hurrying to pack the gear back in the vehicle. I was considering what to do next when the rain came in ernest, a steady rain that washed over the windshield.

The drive back into the main section of the park proved fruitful as I found the usually crowded trails deserted in the early morning rain.