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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.
Forming the shape of a canoe bailer removing water from the bottom of a canoe, the opening of the bailer arcs from Capella in the northeast to Canopus in the southeast, carrying the constellations Orion, Taurus and the Pleiades within the open space of the scoop.
Tipping over once it passes the meridian, the bailer pours out these constellations toward the western horizon. The circle of the horizon is divided in two — one side of the circle is east, Hikina, meaning “arriving” horizon, and the other is west, Komohana, meaning “entering” horizon. The circle rotates on two points, with your back toward the east as you face west; north, or ‘Akau, is on your right, and south, Hema, is on your left. The meridian runs overhead and connects the celestial poles.
All sidereal bodies, the sun, moon, planets and stars, move east to west in parallel tracks and rise and set in the same hemisphere within the circle of the horizon. Wind and swells move diagonally from quadrant to quadrant within the circle of the horizon, northeast to southwest and southeast to northwest.
Between the margins of the Tropics, everything is moving east to west, that is the sidereal bodies, wind and swells. Sailing to Tahiti from Hawaii means keeping the sidereal bodies and the weather to the port hull; returning to Hawaii from Tahiti is the reverse: The starfield and weather are kept to the starboard hull.
Hawaii traditionally had two six-month seasons: kau wela (summer) and hooilo (winter). The names of the 12 months and the particular 30-day lunar periods they pertained to differed from island to island. The months referenced here are for Hawaii island.
Kau wela began in May and ran through October. The months were Ikiiki (May), Ka‘aona (June), Hinaia‘ele‘ele (July), Mahoemua (August), Mahoehope (September) and ‘Ikuwa (October). Hooilo began in November and ran through April. The months were Welehu (November), Makali‘i (December), Ka‘elo (January), Kaulua (February), Nana (March) and Welo (April).
The monthly Hawaiian lunar calendar had 30 nights, called po. Because this was a visual calendar, on certain months the last po night might have been deliberately left off. Twelve months of 29 to 30 po would have meant that over one year the calendar would have drifted 10.75 days as compared with the Gregorian calendar.
To calibrate this difference in drift so that the names matched the observable night sky, every three years the kahuna kilo hoku, “one who is skilled at astronomical observations,” would need to intercalate the calendar by inserting an additional month. We have no documentation of this process; however, we know that this was a practice in the South Pacific.
Featured discovery/observations
Astronomers working with both the Keck Observatories and the Gemini Observatory (NOIRLabs) on Mauna Kea have contributed to an exciting discovery that was announced in early January at the American Astronomical Society conference. The observatories helped to discover the most distant quasar yet discovered in the universe.
Quasars are unique and mysterious objects; they typically involve a supermassive black hole surrounded by hot excited gases and materials orbiting around the black hole at intense speeds.
Quasars are often observed in the most distant galaxies, many of which are some of the first galaxies to have formed in the universe. By studying these objects, astronomers can unlock secrets about the early universe and give us a deeper understanding of our own cosmic origins.
Special events
Feb. 12 marks the Lunar New Year in Chinese tradition. The lunar calendar that determines these calculations regulates that the winter solstice (Dec. 21) will be within the 11th month of the calendar; thus the Lunar New Year will typically fall on the second new moon following the winter solstice.
2021 is the Year of the Ox, according to the Chinese lunar calendar, and its 12th year cycle is partially determined by Jupiter, which returns to the same section of our sky every 11.86 years.
Throughout February observers will be able to view the rusty red planet Mars high in the early evening sky. In mid-February, Mars will receive a special visitor from Earth.
On Feb. 18, NASA’s Perseverance rover is set to land on the surface of Mars, on an ancient river delta. The rover’s goal will be to explore the unique geology of its landing site, assess the ancient habitability of the area and potentially seek out signs of ancient life.
Perseverance is about the size of an SUV and is similar in design to the Curiosity rover, which is also on Mars. It is equipped with many unique instruments that will be used to properly study the Martian environment and complete its mission. One of the most exciting technologies traveling with Perseverance is a helicopter that is carefully designed to take off, fly and land multiple times in the thin atmosphere of Mars.
The rover will land at approximately 10 a.m., and NASA is hosting a number of live events discussing the mission. To learn more, visit mars.nasa.gov/mars2020.
Evening observations
One of the most universally famous constellations will continue to stand out in the early evening sky: Heiheionakeiki, also known as Orion the Hunter.
This shape of seven stars is in a unique position in the sky which allows it to be seen at every latitude on Earth as the shape is made up of very bright and notable stars. People all around the world have connected the stars into interesting and significant shapes. In Greek and Roman cultures, Heiheionakeiki is seen as a great hunter chasing wild beasts in the sky. To modern Polynesian navigators, the stars create the shape of a hei hei, the cat’s cradle string game that is used to pass down significant knowledge.
On a dark clear night with little light pollution, careful observers looking beneath Orion’s Belt (the three stars that cut across the middle) will note what will look like faint wispy clouds. The gray fuzziness seen here is the Orion Nebula (M42), which is one of the most famous star-forming nebulae visible in the sky.
Morning observations
The early morning hours give observers a very different perspective of the sky.
In February the sun will rise just around 7 a.m., with dawn beginning to color the sky starting at around 6:45 a.m. In the hours before dawn, observers will be able to see the bulge of the Milky Way rising in the southeast accompanied by the shape of Maui’s Fishhook, also known as Scorpius.
In mid- to late February the planets Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus will rise between 5:45 and 6:30 a.m. and will all appear to be clumped together in the sky as the sun rises.
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Chad Kalepa Baybayan (Kalepa.Baybayan@hawaii.edu) serves as navigator-in-residence and Emily Peavy (Emily.Peavy@hawaii.edu) as planetarium technician support facilitator at the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii, a center for informal science education at the University of Hawaii at Hilo showcasing astronomy and Hawaiian culture as parallel journeys of human exploration.
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