Snowy Trail to Lake Waiau
Category: Astronomy
Exploring the cosmos
Moonlight on Snow
Milky Way over Mauna Loa
Unsafe Solar Filters on EBay
I though these things were gone!
What are we discussing? Eyepiece style solar filters that screw into the threads on the bottom of the eyepiece, not at the front of the telescope like proper solar filters.
I actually have one of these things, found in a kit of equipment I was given. A bright red and very cheap pot metal casting with a small glass filter. I have never attempted to actually use it, I keep it as a example of the bad and the ugly. It is a vintage bit of gear, the type that was included with inexpensive Japanese refractors of the 60’s and 70’s, sized to be used with the small 0.965″ eyepieces of the era.
Given that the risk you are taking involves irreplaceable eyesight, this is very serious.
Observing Sunset from the Summit of Mauna Kea
During discussions concerning a previous posting another aspect of the video of Ms. Pisciotta became the subject of the conversation. For one familiar with the summit and the position of the features, the claims seem unlikely, something worth a closer look.
While I am singling out Ms. Pisciotta a bit here, she is a key figure in the opposition. She is a leader of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, the most active opposition group and a primary participant in every significant legal case on the issue for the last several decades.
How can we examine this claim? From winter solstice, to equinox, to summer solstice, the position of sunrise and sunset changes significantly. This cycle has been tracked by shamans and priests for millennia, using the pattern to set the time of planting or religious ceremonies.
Continue reading “Observing Sunset from the Summit of Mauna Kea”
Between Telescopes
Scientific Misappropriation
In learning about Mauna Kea and the multifaceted issues that surround our mauna. Reading and listening to modern practitioners describe their relationship with the mauna is interesting, you can learn much about the old beliefs and traditional relationships with the landscape and ecosystems of the islands.
In listening to some practitioners there are some claims that keep catching my attention. Claims that just seem out of place when considering traditional practices. More than once I have just stopped mid-thought and questioned what I just heard. A mental “What?!?”, did I hear that correctly? Some of these are subtle, perhaps missed by someone unfamiliar with the complex cycles of the our world and the sky above. Other claims are obvious, claims of practices or knowledge inconsistent with the old records.
Most recently a claim that got my attention quickly was a celebration of a 26,000 year cycle. The claim was made during testimony at a BLNR board meeting when accepting the TMT conservation district use permit.
There is indeed a 26,000 year cycle in the patterns of the sky, well known to anyone seriously involved in astronomy. It is a result of a wobble in our Earth’s rotation called precession. The effect is extraordinarily subtle, something that could not be noted in a lifetime, or even a few lifetimes of careful sky-watching.
It is notable that the 26,000 year “cycle of the universe” is commonly celebrated in many modern new-age religions. It is one of the deep secrets that can be revealed and taught as if they have some great significance. As such the concept seems to have been borrowed widely by practitioners from many different traditions, including it seems by some modern Hawaiian practitioners.
Continue reading “Scientific Misappropriation”Reminiscing on Ektachrome
Among some slides I recently digitized is a series of astrophotos featuring Orion. Taken in early 1986 this represents one of my early forays into astrophotography. While most of the images are troubled by bad tracking, at least two worked with round, if somewhat overexposed, stars. Judging by the field of view it was a 50mm lens which means it might be an f/1.8, the common nifty-fifty.
A few thing are quickly revealed when looking at the image. Taken on Ektachrome film the image is heavy on the blue, with poor sensitivity in the deep red. The Orion Nebula shows very little color and less extant than I would expect. The image is also quite grainy, the film grain being quite obvious and distracting. I cleaned up the image a bit in Lightroom, but this is about as good as it gets.
The images was likely a fairly long exposure, perhaps 30 seconds to a couple minutes. I have no records to show how long, no EXIF information on a 35mm slide. The image would have been hand-timed with watch a manual shutter release cable.
Kodak has announced a resumption of Ektachrome production after ceasing all production in 2013. This appears to be in recognition of the remaining, but robust, niche community of film photographers and continued demand for film. First scheduled for 2017 this was delayed into 2018 due to the lack of availability of some materials necessary for production.
Even if the film again becomes available I doubt I will be grabbing a roll for astrophotos. I do have the cameras and lenses available to shoot film. Modern DLSR’s are vastly better at low light.
New Moon
Secondary
