Sunrise Along the Morning Commute
Tag: Mauna Kea
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”From the Top
Snow
Last week we got a little snow atop the mauna. I forgot to post the photos I took as we were pulling out. Snow was building on the roads and summit lead made the call to end the day a little early…
Postcard from the Summit – Mamane and Fogbow
As you descend from Hale Pohaku in the afternoon you often drive into the top of the clouds at about 6,000-8,000ft elevation. The transition from clear blue skies to fog is often stunningly breautiful, a zone where light does interesting things. This zone is haunted by ghostly phenomena… As long as the Sun angle is low you will see fogbows here…
Red Lights Under Stars
Were cultural sites destroyed when building observatories?
Another of the myths that plague this conversation. While not as commonly stated as some of the other myths discussed here, it has been persistent and seems to pop up regularly.
When the 12 existing facilities were built, not only were laws waived, heiau and ahus were bulldozed into trash heaps.
wailana in a comment on Ian Lind’s blog 14Sep2019
The myth is clearly an attempt to show that the state callously allowed the destruction of cultural properties in the past, thus showing that the state does not care for Hawaiian issues and would break its own laws.
Continue reading “Were cultural sites destroyed when building observatories?”A Moonlit Night at Kaʻohe
It was Norman who started it.
An innocent email… Anyone interested in a star party this weekend?
Last weekend’s new Moon star party had been a bust, heavy clouds overhead were a disappointment to those of us waiting for a good dark night.
Given the positive response to Norman’s email there seems to be a few folks ready to go despite a bright Moon in the sky. With the weather looking good the Saturday afternoon email flurry showed that a few folks were going, thus I joined in.
As per Mauna Kea normal I drove through the clouds, heavy fog on Saddle Road just a mile from Kaʻohe made the trip seem hopeless. But as I neared the turn I suddenly found myself above the clouds, the bright Moon high over Hualalai.
Continue reading “A Moonlit Night at Kaʻohe”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?”