by Bob Czerwinski
Better late than never...
My daughter, Jenny, and I returned home to San Jose very early August 30th, having spent just over a week on the west coast of Maui. While our summer vacation together was not designed to be an observing trip, I couldn't help looking to the south along Ka'anapali Beach after each sunset, wondering what stars I'd be able to see along the horizon that weren't available for viewing back home.
The sunset each night was truly wonderful to behold, each one a novella in its own right ... even though words alone could never do any of them justice. When you're sitting at a latitude of 20-degrees North, however, it's amazing how quickly the skies darken after sunset. Often before I realized it, familiar constellations were already showing themselves.
Although we were only 17-degrees further south than San Jose, it was always disconcerting to see Scorpius and Sagittarius so elevated in the sky each evening, with Mars riding high on the border between them. I guess unsettling would be a better term. With no land to disturb the view to the S-SW, it felt like we were *much* further south than we really were. Not long after sunset, the border of Hercules/Ophiuchus was almost straight overhead, rather than the top of Hercules' keystone, with a couple of dim stars just visible below Scorpius suggesting the presence of Ara, the Altar. One evening, looking to the S-SW through a pair of hotel-supplied (ugh!) binoculars, I could just make out two of the stars of Crux, Beta and Gamma, skirting the horizon. Neked-eye alone, I could not see either of them. Smoke from activity on the Big Island certainly dimmed Maui's southern horizon ... but I'm not complaining. Well, not too much. <grin> As much as I would have liked to have seen it, from my location it was just a little too late in the year to pick up all of the Southern Cross. Thanks to their triple- and double-star configurations, bright Alpha and Beta Centauri were always easy to spot neked-eye, clouds permitting, probably about 10-degrees above the horizon. About the same distance above the horizon was Omega Centauri, NGC 5139, an item many of us have spotted from LSA and Henry Coe. I couldn't spot it without using the binos; strange ... maybe another Lava Flow would have helped. <grin> Okay, I'll just blame the Big Island smoke. I also couldn't find NGC 5128, the peculiar galaxy in Centaurus. Isn't this readily visible with binoculars? Would have thought so. I have the feeling I was just looking in the wrong place ... or maybe another Mai Tai was required. The only other constellation areas where I briefly searched for stars were Triangulum Australe, The Southern Triangle (only Beta spotted through the binoculars), Ara (all the major stars were visible in the binos) and Pavo, The Peacock (I spotted Alpha and Beta in the binos, but nothing else.) When clouds would build up, everything south of Sagittarius and Scorpius would soon disappear. One evening *everything* disappeared, but I'll definitely accept one night of rain over a period of nine nights.
I know many of you have enjoyed wonderful observing sessions from Hawaii, especially from the Big Island, and points much further south. I definitely need to go back and reread all your observing reports.
Next time I'll bring my *own* binoculars. <grin>