Aloha kākou and Happy Aloha Friday. The night sky on the Big Island of Hawai’i has some of the best nighttime viewing of the heavens. On very clear nights the Milkyway can be seen in great detail. This is because the Observatories on Mauna Kea and University of Hawai’i have an agreement with the county to use low lights on streetlights and other sources of light. This allows for better viewing of the night skies.
It’s post Easter Sunday, the rainy season has begun on Moku o Keawe (Big Hawai’i Island). This means the Merrie Monarch Festival is in full swing in Hilo town. Ā ua nui Hilo, hālau lani i ke ao (chant), and Hilo rains so much, a heavenly shed in the clouds. The island is packed with Hula Halaus from around the world. The 61st Merrie Monarch competition started last night with Nā Wāhine ʻUmi kūmākolu (13 women) competing for Miss Aloha Hula 2024. Ka’onohikaumaka’akeawe Lopez won the Miss Hulu title.
The Big Island of Hawaii was represented by Chanti “Kiki” Kamailekaluhea Motta of Hilo’s Halau Ka Lehua Pua Kamaehu, under the direction of Na Kumu Hula Kasie Puahala Kaleohano and Brandi Nohelani Barrett, who was the evening’s first dancer. The Hula competition continues throughout the rest of this week. — Hawai’i Trubune Herald
The State of Hawaii’s Board on Geographic Names is revisiting the name of the Island of Hawaii. Government in its infinite wisdom is trying to fix things that aren’t broken.
Apparently, our State and Country governments don’t have enough to do to justify their taxpayer paychecks. The Big Island will always be known to me as Hawai’i Island or “Moku o Keawe,” the poetic name for the largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago. While Nā Hōkū (The Stars) are performing Hula at Hilo’s Edith Kanaka’ole Stadium, the night skies are waiting for the appearance of a new star to appear.
Once in a lifetime there is a star that explodes every eighty years, and it might be visible to see sometime this year. The T Coronae Borealis last erupted in 1946, and astronomers anticipate it will occur again sometime between now or later this year. The effect is called a “Nova” or a “New Star” that will appear for about a week in the northern part of the sky near the Northern Star. The T Coronae Borealis is a binary star system roughly 3,000 light years away from Earth and is set to become visible to the naked eye sometime between April to September. Hopefully when Hawai’i enters the dry season when the night skies are cloudless and still.
Viewing T Coronae Borealis may or may not be easy for me to see from my lanai. I have a direct line of sight north towards Mauna Kea and Hilo to see the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia as pointer stars to find (Hokupa’a) Polaris the North Star. From there I just need to follow along the horizon west to find the Borealis constellation crown. Except, this is the rainy season in Hawai’i and the star’s brightness only lasts for about week. The T Coronae Borealis nova process has been repeating every 80 years. It’s a once in a lifetime event to see. I predict the Nova will occur on June 30th, I koʻu lā hānau.
Hoʻokahi manawa i ke ola (Once in a lifetime). Eighty Years Gone till the next nova eruption. It’s unlikely I’ll be around to see the next nova in 2104, but you never know. There’s a lot of things this year that will be once in a lifetime. I hope luck is in our favor.
— MAGA —
Current Conditions: Partly cloudy skies with occasional moderate rain showers. There is a 90% chance of precipitation. We received 47/64 inch of precipitation overnight. Tradewinds from the northeast at 8 mph, gust 18 mph. Cloud cover is 57%. Visibility is 10 miles. Temperatures are in the mid 70’s. Humidity is 74%. Barometric pressure is 30.15 inches. Dewpoint is 65° and UV index is 12. Air quality Index is good at 36. Readings taken at 12:00PM HST.
E Māua Ola i Moku o Keawe 