22° Halo
Category: Astronomy
Exploring the cosmos
Ski Mauna Kea
Fresh Snow
A Snow Week
With a decent snowfall atop Mauna Kea my week was one of snow, and more snow. It was a week of problems and beauty.
The snow started falling on the 10th, a blanket of white covering the mauna. As the observatory crews pulled out and the road was closed we watched the storm on the webcams. While it snowed on the summit near record rains and flooding hit Hilo along with much of the windward side.
While a few guys from our summit crew made short visits to check on things, for the most part work on the summit was paused through the weekend, conditions inoperable.
It was not until Tuesday that the snowplows cleared the snowdrifts and access was partially restored. With delayed tasks to do I drove up that morning into a spectacular dawn over the mauna.
Continue reading “A Snow Week”Twilight Telescopes
Sunrise Along the Morning Commute
Violet and a Meteor
Living in the Protest Bubble
Given my interactions with various protesters I have wondered just what information is exchanged in the camp privately among those who have been living there. I wonder how that information has shaped their views and driven the core of the Kia’i movement.
My worry is that the camp is serving as an environment where a more extreme stance in this controversy can be created and thrive.
The recipe for this is simple… Take a number of people that already share the same views, isolate them together, and bring in speakers and teachers that amplify the message. The result of this process is well understood in human psychology.
One of the common statements from those in the camp, one repeated over and over, is to come on up and live in the camp, only then you will understand.
Continue reading “Living in the Protest Bubble”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.
It is odd to see such an iconic star change so dramatically, a reminder that not even the stars are permanent.
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.
A Full Night at Kaʻohe
A last star party of the year, actually the last star party of the decade.
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.
Continue reading “A Full Night at Kaʻohe”