Cherry Blossom Festival is a huge event where a large segment of the island population descends upon Waimea for a day of celebration. there are booths and events all across town. There are cultural demonstrations, cooking demonstrations, performances, and lots of food available for an all day, all town festival.
Viewing the Sun at the Cherry Blossom FestivalWith most of the parking on the south side of Keck observatory, the shopping mall parking lots, and the main event venue north of Keck at Church Row where the cherry trees are, a huge number of people cross the observatory lawns on their way to the festival. It is a natural fit for us to use the day for an outreach event.
The festival is also a very local event. Sure there are a few tourists drawn to Waimea for a festival. But, by and large this is a local event, the majority of attendees are island residents.
Today the Earth is closest to the Sun, a point called perihelion. We will be about 147,099,000km (91,403,000miles) from the Sun. Compare this to the 152,096,000km (94,508,000miles) we will be at aphelion on July 3rd, a difference of about 4,996,000km (3,104,000miles) occurs throughout one orbit.
It may seem odd that we are actually at the closest for the middle of northern winter, you just have to remember that proximity to the Sun is not the cause of the seasons. The seasons are caused by the axial tilt of the Earth, creating short and long days throughout the year, with a resulting change in the angle and intensity of the sunlight.
Winter solstice occurs today at 00:44HST. Today the Sun will occupy the most southerly position in the sky of the year. The term solstice comes from the Latin terms Sol (the Sun) and sistere (to stand still). On this day the Sun seems to stand still as it stops moving southwards each day and begins move to the north. This is the first day of winter as marked by many cultures in the northern hemisphere. Alternately, this is the first day of summer for those folks in the southern hemisphere.
A total lunar eclipse on the night of August 27-28, 2007 with the Moon deep in the Earth’s inner shadow. A dark eclipse, this exposure shows a number of stars surrounding the Moon
Total lunar eclipse August 28, 2007, photo is a 8sec exposure with a Canon 20Da on a 90mm f/12 APO
The solar eclipse of March 8th, 2016 taken from Spencer Beach State Park. Celestron C8 with a Canon 6D at cassegrain focus, 2000mm focal length
A partial solar eclipse from Kawaihae, 9 May 2013
The eclipsed Moon south of the planet Mars just a week after opposition, Canon 6D and 105mm f/4 lens
The sum of 699 exposures taken through the lunar eclipse of Apr 4, 2015
Total lunar eclipse of 28 Aug 2007, photo is a 8sec exposure with a Canon 20Da on a 90mm f/12 APO
The total lunar eclipse on Apr 14, 2014, Canon 6D on 90mm f/12 APO
Walking from the Sun to Neptune is easy… At least when they are set up in a scale model along main street Waimea.
A fun day… The Sun, telescopes, the planets, a few asteroids represented by meteorites, and plenty of activities for the kids. It was a great day to be in Waimea as CFHT and Keck put on the Solar System Walk 2016…
The inner solar system sits in front of Keck Observatory for the 2016 Solar System Walk
Jane hands out passports for the planets at the 2016 Solar System Walk
A young observer checks out the Sun
Chris showing a young observer the Sun through a telescope with hydrogen alpha filter
Gary Fujihara with his meteorite collection representing the asteroids
Local kids check out the meteorites in Gary’s educational collection
A helmet from the movie The Martian brought by the HI-SEAS folks for the Mars tent
Today the Earth is furthest from the Sun, a point called apehelion. We will be about 152,096,000km (94,508,000miles) from the Sun. Compare this to the 147,099,000km (91,403,000miles) we were at perihelion on January 2rd, a difference of about 4,996,000km (3,104,000miles) occurring throughout one orbit.
It may seem odd that we are actually at the furthest for the middle of northern summer, you just have to remember that proximity to the Sun is not the cause of the seasons. The seasons are caused by the axial tilt of the Earth, creating short and long days throughout the year, with a resulting change in the angle and intensity of the sunlight.
It was a beautiful morning! Alarm set for 4:30am, out of the house at 5am, setup just at sunrise on the old Saddle Road. The sun rose through low clouds over the grasslands of Parker Ranch with Waimea to one side and Mauna Kea on the other.
Mercury transiting the Sun on May 9, 2016. Celestron C8 and Canon 6D at f/10.Setting up a telescope as the Sun was rising seemed just wrong. I am used to breaking down a telescope as the Sun comes over the horizon at the end of a night’s observing. It is not often that an observing session results in my risking sunburn!
The seeing was pretty horrible at sunrise but rapidly improved as the Sun rose. As the transit ended the seeing was quite sharp and the photos not all that bad. At least as long as I kept the shutter speeds high. Visually the view was quite nice, a sharp black dot against the Sun, a far cry from the dancing blur you usually see when trying to view Mercury in the glow of Sunset.
Just a quick reminder that mercury will transit the face of the Sun tomorrow morning. You can read full details in my earlier post or check out a decent transit calculator. For observer in Hawaii the transit will already be well underway at sunrise, making this a set-the-alarm-early exercise. My telescope and solar filter are already loaded… Are yours?
The 2006 transit of Mercury, photographed with a 90mm telescope and a Canon 20Da
Both of the planets that orbit closer to the Sun, Mercury and Venus, can be seen to cross the face of the Sun if everything lines up just right. The last transit of Venus was in 2012. It has been much longer since a transit of Mercury, that last occurred in 2006.
The 2006 transit of Mercury, photographed with a 90mm telescope and a Canon 20Da
In comparison the the rare transits of Venus, transits of Mercury are fairly common. There are 13 or 14 transits of Mercury each century, meaning there is a transit on average every seven years. On May 9th this year we have another chance to observe a Mercury Transit.
Photographing the 2006 transit of Mercury from TucsonBack in 2006 I took the day off work and photographed the transit from my backyard in Tucson. As a transit is a five hour event the effort to observe the entire thing takes a while.
Mercury is quite small with respect to the Sun. During the transit the planet will be a mere 12-13 arcsec across. Considering the Sun is about 1920 arcsec across, the planet will be a fairly small dot on the face of the Sun.
In some respects a transit is the clearest view of Mercury small telescope users are able to view. Normally observed low on the horizon, the innermost planet never gets far from the Sun. During transit a fairly sharp disk can be seen, far better then the mushy view offered near the horizon at sunset and dawn.
First Contact
11:12 UT
1:12 HST
Second Contact
11:15 UT
1:15 HST
Mid-Transit
14:57 UT
4:57 HST
Third Contact
18:39 UT
8:39 HST
Last Contact
18:42 UT
8:42 HST
2016 May 09 Mercury Transit
Unfortunately for observers in the middle of the Pacific the 2016 transit will begin well before dawn. It is only the last hour or so of transit that will be easily visible as the morning Sun rises into the sky. Viewers in eastern North America and Europe will have a better vantage point for this transit.
Please exercise caution when viewing the Sun! Use appropriate eye protection or indirect observing techniques to project an image of the Sun. The link at the start of this paragraph leads to a great discussion on viewing the Sun safely. As always the single best source on the web (or anywhere) for eclipse and transit information is Fred Espenak’s eclipse website at NASA. Stop by whenever you have a question on upcoming events as well as viewing and photography tips.
The next Mercury transit will occur November 11, 2019. This next transit also favors Europe as mid transit occurs at 15:20UT. For the next Venus transit? You are out of luck as it occurs in 2117, over a century away.
I still have an 8″ solar filter on-hand, leftover from the Meade LX50 I used to have many years ago. A quick inspection to insure it is in usable condition (take no chances with solar filters) and a fit check… It fits the restored C8 perfectly.
