Skywatch | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Telescope atop Mauna Kea spots transitional galaxies

None — Sun, 24 Nov 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Astronomers using the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea have made a fascinating discovery, identifying a group of transitional galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, which could unlock the mysteries behind ultracompact dwarf galaxies, or UCDs. UCDs are known to be among the densest stellar systems in the universe, but their origins have puzzled astronomers since their discovery more than two decades ago. The research, led by an international team, sheds light on the theory that UCDs are the remnants of disrupted dwarf galaxies.

Skywatch: Rocky planet around white dwarf resembles Earth, 8B years from now

None — Sun, 27 Oct 2024 10:05:00 +0000

The discovery of an Earth-like planet 4,000 light years away in the Milky Way galaxy provides a preview of one possible fate for our planet billions of years in the future, when the sun has turned into a white dwarf, and a blasted and frozen Earth has migrated beyond the orbit of Mars.

Skywatch: Astronomers observe earliest pair of quasars

None — Sun, 30 Jun 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Featured Mauna Kea observatory news

Skywatch: Telescopic instrument is given Hawaiian name

None — Sun, 26 May 2024 10:05:00 +0000

Featured Mauna Kea observatory news

November skies bring meteors, celestial start to Makahiki season

None — Sun, 29 Oct 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Featured Mauna Kea discovery

Skywatch: Helium star’s powerful magnetic field draws in Mauna Kea researchers

None — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Featured Mauna Kea discovery

Skywatch: Supermoons, shower and Saturn will fill sky

None — Sun, 30 Jul 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Featured Mauna Kea Observatory discovery

Skywatch: Gaze up for supermoon, down for Lahaina noon

None — Sun, 25 Jun 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Featured Mauna Kea Observatory discovery

Skywatch: Unique lunar eclipse will grace Hawaii skies

None — Sun, 30 Apr 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Featured Mauna Kea Observatory discovery

Skywatch: Comet might be visible on clear February night

None — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 10:05:00 +0000

Featured Mauna Kea Observatory news

Skywatch: Lunar eclipse, Leonids highlight November sky

None — Sun, 30 Oct 2022 10:05:00 +0000

Lunar eclipse

Skywatch: Orionid meteor shower, star families light up sky

None — Sun, 25 Sep 2022 10:05:00 +0000

Featured Mauna Kea discovery/observation

Skywatch: Gas giants, Milky Way will grace evening sky

None — Sun, 28 Aug 2022 10:05:00 +0000

Featured Mauna Kea discovery/observation

Skywatch: Supermoon, Perseids will light up sky

None — Sun, 31 Jul 2022 10:05:00 +0000

Special events

Skywatch: Clear skies will reveal galaxy, line of planets

None — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 10:05:00 +0000

Special events

Skywatch: Planets come out to play; summer sees longer days

None — Sun, 29 May 2022 10:05:00 +0000

Hokupa‘a, also known as Polaris or the North Star: We gaze at it and use it as a tool for navigation across the world, but what do we know about the star? Or should we say, stars?

Skywatch: Lahaina noons will make isle shadows disappear

None — Sun, 24 Apr 2022 10:05:00 +0000

Featured Mauna Kea discovery/observation

Skywatch: Meteors, conjunctions will brighten April skies

None — Sun, 27 Mar 2022 10:05:00 +0000

Featured Mauna Kea discovery/observation

Skywatch: Pairs of planets will come together in series of stunning conjunctions

None — Sun, 27 Feb 2022 10:04:00 +0000

Kekaomakali‘i (the Canoe Bailer) is now filling the western region of the sky. In this starline we can make out the stars that make up Kaheiheionakeiki, also well known as Orion the Hunter.

Skywatch: Hawaii’s royal historian provided calendar source

None — Sun, 30 Jan 2022 10:05:00 +0000

Kekaomakali‘i arcs overhead, rising on the Hikina horizon — east — and moving toward the Komohana horizon — west. Within the bailer-shaped celestial image lies Hokulei (Capella); Nanamua and Nanahope (Castor and Pollux); Puana (Procyon); ‘A‘a (Sirius); and Keali‘iokonaikalewa (Canopus, chief of the southern skies).

Skywatch: Traditional star compass assists navigators at sea

None — Sun, 26 Dec 2021 10:05:00 +0000

Once again we return to the first of our four star families, Kekaomakali‘i (the Bailer of Makali‘i), as it makes its nightly east-to-west progression from horizon to horizon.

Skywatch: Watch meteors zoom by and days change length throughout December

None — Sun, 28 Nov 2021 10:05:00 +0000

The four stars that form the corners of Ka Lupe a Kawelo, the Great Square of Pegasus, are excellent pointer stars that show the direction of both the north and south celestial poles, and serve as an indicator of the path they take across the night sky as they move from the eastern to the western horizon.

Skywatch: Lunar eclipse, meteors enliven November sky

None — Sun, 31 Oct 2021 10:05:00 +0000

As Nahiku (the Big Dipper) sinks below the western horizon, Iwakeli‘i (Cassiopeia) and Kalupeakawelo (the Great Square of Pegasus) climb high into the northeastern sky, signaling the arrival of Makali‘i (Pleiades) in the star house ‘Aina Ko‘olau on the star compass.

Skywatch: Fall arrives with bright planets, meteor shower

None — Sun, 26 Sep 2021 10:05:00 +0000

The twin stars in the bucket of the Little Dipper, Holopuni (Kochab) and Hokumau (Pherkad), are good clues for determining latitude in the Southern Hemisphere.

Skywatch: Think of fall equinox as midpoint of season

None — Sat, 04 Sep 2021 10:05:00 +0000

Kalupeakawelo, the Kite of Kawelo, is the fourth and final star family to be featured.

Saturn, Jupiter, Perseids shine brightly in August

None — Sun, 25 Jul 2021 10:05:00 +0000

The circular star compass is divided into four quadrants. From north to east is the quadrant Ko‘olau; south to west is the quadrant Kona; south to east is the quadrant Malanai; and north to west is the quadrant Ho‘olua.

Skywatch: Lahaina noon across isles will erase shadows

None — Sun, 27 Jun 2021 10:05:00 +0000

Manaiakalani, the Chief’s Fishline, is the third of our four star families and is prominent in the sky for the summer months of July, August and September. It follows our spring star family, Kaiwikuamo‘o, the Backbone, and our winter star family, Kekaomakali‘i, the Bailer of Makali‘i, and precedes our fall star family, Kalupeakawelo, the Kite of Kawelo.

Skywatch: Look for star family’s iconic constellations in its final month

None — Sun, 30 May 2021 10:05:00 +0000

The first half of this article, explaining the star family Kaiwikuamo‘o, is the last piece written by our beloved navigator-in-residence, the late Chad Kalepa Baybayan.

‘Imiloa mourns the loss of navigator Kalepa Baybayan

None — Sun, 25 Apr 2021 10:05:00 +0000

It is with profound sadness to inform you, our valued Skywatch readers, that our dear friend and colleague, Kalepa Baybayan, died from natural causes while visiting and caring for ohana in Seattle on April 8.

Skywatch: Celebrate spring with meteors and supermoon

None — Sun, 28 Mar 2021 10:05:00 +0000

April announces the arrival of the second of our star families, Kaiwikuamo‘o, or “the Backbone,” back to the spring night sky.

Mauna Kea scope offers new look at Crab Nebula

None — Sun, 28 Feb 2021 10:05:00 +0000

The equinox, mauiili, refers to equal nights — a day in which time is split equally between darkness and sunlight — and occurs twice annually, once in the spring and again in the fall.

Skywatch: Ring in Lunar New Year, monitor new Mars rover

None — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 10:05:00 +0000

Kekaomakali‘i, the Bailer of Makali‘i, which is the winter starline, rises from the eastern horizon and circles overhead and reenters the horizon in the west.

Astronomers use Gemini Observatory to study ‘fingers’ of Orion Nebula

Star-Advertiser Staff — Sun, 27 Dec 2020 10:05:00 +0000

The new year welcomes back the first of our four Hawaiian star families, Kekaomakali‘i, the Bailer of Makali‘i.

Dwarf planet is named through teacher program

None — Sun, 29 Nov 2020 10:05:00 +0000

Kalupeakawelo, “the kite of Kawelo,” is in the final month of this featured fall star family.

Skywatch: Isle-based astronomer earns Nobel accolades

None — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 10:05:00 +0000

On the morning of Oct. 8, Hawaii’s astronomy community woke to some exciting news: UCLA astronomer Andrea Ghez, who has conducted research with the W.M. Keck Observatories for over 25 years, had just been awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Skywatch: Tales of constellations have survived centuries

None — Sun, 30 Aug 2020 10:05:00 +0000

Manaiakalani, or Chiefly Fishing Line, the third of our four star families, is completing its westward journey back toward the horizon. The summer triangle — of Humu, Altair in the constellation Aquilae the Eagle; Keoe, Vega in the constellation Lyra the Harp; and Piraete‘a, Deneb in the constellation Cygnus the Swan — is overhead and moving toward the western horizon.

Comet, meteor shower light up August nights

None — Sun, 26 Jul 2020 10:05:00 +0000

August brings the third of the four star families to the eastern night sky.

Skywatch: Observe shadow magic during Lahaina Noon

None — Sun, 28 Jun 2020 10:05:00 +0000

July brings to the night sky the third of the year’s four seasonal star families, Manaiakalani, the Chiefly Fishing Line.

Skywatch: Hawaii observatory is used to glimpse rare galaxy

None — Sun, 31 May 2020 10:05:00 +0000

June signals the last month in our discussion of the star family Kaiwikuamo‘o, the Backbone. Kaiwikuamo‘o is described in the book “North Star to Southern Cross,” written by the late Bishop Museum astronomer Will Kyselka, and is one of four star families that modern voyagers use to organize the night sky.

Skywatch: See comet mid-month — if it holds its brightness

None — Sun, 26 Apr 2020 10:05:00 +0000

Kaiwikuamo‘o (the Backbone) is the featured evening star family for the months of April, May and June. The Backbone runs from Hokupa‘a (Polaris) in the north to Hanaiakamalama (Southern Cross), the meridian pointer for the south celestial pole.