A Quasar Gets a Hawaiian Name

 

The whole year before our move to the Big Island in 2012, we read many books about the Hawaiian culture and one of the first words we learned from a Hawaiian Dictionary (Mahalo Queenie) -- was PO!!  Lunel wanted to design a collage that might reflect that awesome destructive/creative force.

STARS OVER HAWAII

 

When we retired and moved from California we were familiar with the constellations like Orion, Cassiopeia and so forth like this image (left)  

Because of our array of telescopes atop Mauna Kea, the island has very low lighting which means we do have excellent star scapes.

However, the star chart for Hawaii is very different. Early Polynesian navigators used four distinct “Star lines” to navigate  cross thousands of ocean miles.                                                                  

The Hawaiian names are, of course, in the Hawaiian language and translated they are: Kite of Kawelo and the Fish hook of Maui which can be seen in the fall and winter sky (shown below.) During winter/spring and spring/summer the star lines seen are named The Bailer and the Backbone. 

At Imiloa Astronomy Center in Hilo on the Big Island, lectures and special events offer educational opportunities to learn about Hawaii’s legacy of exploration.

 Imiloa Astronomy Center Hilo

The star line pictured here is called “The Backbone” -- one that is easier for us to see because it includes several more familiar constellations. It is Seen during the spring and summer months

For more information about star lines:

Hawaii Navigation by the Stars

Life in Puna --- Ahhhhh!

We've been having a grand time showing Walt and Jenny around our "country."  These Eureka CA friends are about the 13th visitors.  Some of our guests stayed for one or two nights and others stayed for a few weeks. Until you have been here, you can't really believe how really beautiful it is, (even though we don't have white sand beaches) or that is really does rain mostly at night, or that we really do live in a rain forest. 



Since reading Sam Low's book Hawaiiki Rising, and hearing Sam and Nainoa Thompson speak last year, we have been attending the "Wayfinding Talks" presented at the Imiloa Astronomy Center in Hilo.  Tomorrow we will attend the program presented by Pwo Navigator Kalepa Baybayan who will share how the ancient traditions of the Polynesian navigators are being practiced by the Polynesian Voyaging Society on their current worldwide voyage.

Kalepa has been sailing with all the major voyages of the Hokule'a and Honuakai and he is currently serving as Navigator in Residence at Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii.  In 2007, Baybayan and four other Hawaiian men were initiated into the order of Pwo, a 2,000 year old society of traditional deep-sea navigators.  For more information on this outstanding cultural adventure, visit the link below.

 http://www.samlow.com/HawaiikiRising.htm