June 26, 2002
CONTACT:
Mike Shanahan
Planetarium Manager
(808)
847-8235
For immediate
release
SKYWATCH
ARTICLE
JULY 2002
Lahaina Noon returns!
At 12:37 PM on Monday
July 15, the sun will be exactly overhead in Honolulu. This is “Lahaina Noon,” one
of two days each year when the sun is in the zenith. This event only happens in the tropics.
We use the word
“tropic” all the time, especially here in the islands. There are tropical drinks, tropical
clothes, tropical music and tropical regions of the earth. We know that Hawai‘i is tropical. We have a general idea that places like
Brazil and Africa are as well. But
what makes a place
“tropical”? Why is
Hawai‘i “tropical” and why is Florida not?
The answer is literally
over your head. The tropics are
the only regions on earth where the sun appears exactly overhead.
Despite the general
belief that “the sun is always overhead at noon,” this just
isn’t so. The sun is never overhead in the temperate and arctic zones. To see this phenomenon, you have to
live in the tropics. This is what
the tropics are: those regions of the world, from 23.5 degrees north latitude
to 23.5 degrees south, when the sun appears overhead.
Even in the tropics,
Lahaina noon occurs on just two days a year. In fact, on the very edge of the tropics, Lahaina Noon
happens only once a year.
The northern edge of the
tropics is called the Tropic of Cancer.
Cities close to this line (23.5 degrees north of the equator) include
Havana, Calcutta, and Hong Kong.
On the Tropic of Cancer, the sun appears overhead around June 21.
Why do we call it the
“Tropic of Cancer?”
When the Babylonians worked out the zodiac constellations nearly 3000
years ago, the sun was in the constellation of Cancer the Crab on June 21. If there were a total solar eclipse on
June 21, 800 BC, for instance, you would have seen the faint stars of Cancer
the Crab shining behind the sun.
Even though the sun is now in Gemini on June 21, we still use the
ancient term “Tropic of Cancer.”
23.5 degrees south of the
equator is the Tropic of Capricorn, which marks the southern end of the
tropics. The sun is overhead on
this line on December 21. When the
zodiac was named thousands of years ago, the sun was in this constellation of
Capricornus the Sea Goat on December 21.
(The sun is now in Sagittarius on this date.)
The Tropic of Capricorn
passes just south of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and just north of Sao Paulo,
Brazil. Other points of interest
along the Tropic of Capricorn: Alice Springs, Australia, and Gambier Island.
If you are right on
either of the tropic lines, you get just one Lahaina noon a year: June 21 for
the Tropic of Cancer, December 21 for the Tropic of Capricorn. All other locations in the tropics get
two Lahaina Noons per year.
All of the eight major
Hawaiian Islands are in the tropics (the Tropic of Cancer passes north of
Necker Island and south of Nihoa Island) so all those eight islands get two
Lahaina Noons. All locations
listed below had their first Lahaina noon in May. Here are the July dates for a number of Hawaiian locations.
Lahaina Noon Dates and
Times:
Līhue, Kaua‘i
July 11, 12:43 PM
Kane‘ohe,
O‘ahu
July 15, 12:37 PM
Honolulu, O‘ahu:
July 15, 12:37 PM
Kaunakakai, Moloka‘i:
July 17, 12:34 PM
Lana‘i City,
Lana‘i:
July 18, 12:34 PM
Lahaina, Maui:
July 18, 12:33 PM
Kahului, Maui:
July 18, 12:31 PM
Hana, Maui:
July 18, 12:30 PM
Hilo, Hawai‘i:
July 24, 12:27 PM
Kailua-Kona,
Hawai‘i:
July 24, 12:30 PM
Lahaina Noon programs
at Bishop Museum:
To celebrate this
significant event, the Bishop Museum will host a “Lahaina Noon Day”
on Monday, July 15. We’ll
hold a ceremony on the great lawn to mark the moment of Lahaina noon (at 12:37
PM), and will offer other special programs:
· Observatory: watch from the observatory as the telescope projects the sun’s
image on the observatory wall. As
12:37 PM approaches, the telescope will be straight up, aimed at the very
zenith. (The observatory is open
noon – 1 PM)
· “Tropical Skies” (10:30 AM). This planetarium show takes the
audience to Cuba to Rio de Janeiro as it explores Lahaina noon throughout the
tropics.
· Make and take activities on sundials, solar
puzzles, and other activities for kids (10:30 AM – 12:30 PM.
(These programs are
included in museum admission).
On the weekend before
Lahaina Noon:
As a lead up to the
Lahaina noon event, the museum will offer the planetarium show “Tropical Skies”
at 11:30 AM on Saturday July 13 and Sunday July 14 as well. On these two weekend days,
“Tropical Skies” replaces the regularly-scheduled “Explorers
of Mauna Kea.”
Other sky events in
July:
July 5:
The earth is at its
furthest point from the sun on July 5.
The sun is 94,507,073 miles away on that day.
July 7:
Japanese Tanabata
Festival. This sky festival is
based on a famous legend, found throughout Asia, of the Weaving Goddess and the
Herdsman (the stars Vega and Altair).
Separated by the Celestial River (the Milky Way), the lovers can be
together only on the 7th day of the 7th month, when birds
form a living bridge across the Celestial River.
July 7 is, of course, the
7th day of the 7th month in the western solar calendar,
and many areas on Japan celebrate Tanabata on that day. However, this story is originally based
on the lunar calendar; in 2002, the 7th day of the 7th
month in the lunar calendar occurs on August 15.
The planets in July:
Mercury: look for Mercury in the first week of July around
5 AM, in the East Northeast. On
July 1 and 2, Mercury is in conjunction with Saturn, which is just below
Mercury (and a little dimmer than
Mercury). By July 8, Mercury falls
back into the light of the sun. It
will emerge as an evening star at the very end of July.
Venus: striking in the evening sky, Venus emerges at
twilight and does not set in the west till 9:30 PM in July.
Mars: Mars is now lost in the sun’s light, and
will emerge as a morning star in September.
Jupiter: you might be able to catch Jupiter low in the
west during the first 10 days of July, well below Venus. After July 10, it is lost in the sun as
well.
Saturn: Saturn is well-placed in the morning sky. It rises around 5 AM on July 1, and is
in close conjunction with Mercury on July 1 and 2. It rises by 4 AM on July 15 and 3 AM on July 31.
Uranus:
The planet Uranus is in
the constellation of Aquarius, and rises around 10 PM at the start of July and
around 8 PM at the end of July.
Neptune is in Capricornus
and rises around 9 PM at the start of July and at 7 PM at the end of the month.
Pluto is in Ophiuchus,
which is above the horizon by the time it gets dark in July.
Moon
phases:
Third
Quarter: July
2
New Moon: July
10
First Quarter: July
16
Full: July
23
All lunar dates are in Hawai‘i Standard
Time.
Space
Station and Hubble Telescope viewing:
The Bishop Museum
planetarium home page has links to several excellent sites for viewing these
large satellites:
http://bishopmuseum.org/planetarium/
This homepage also
contains sunrise and sunset times for various locations in Hawai‘i, star
maps, and astronomical highlights for the remainder of 2002.
Planetarium Information
Daily
Planetarium schedule:
“Explorers
of Mauna Kea” (45 minutes) 11:30
AM
“The Explorers” (in
Japanese) (45 minutes) 12:30
PM
“The Explorers” (45 minutes) 1:30
PM
“The Stars Tonight” (30
minutes) 3:30
PM
Our
“Explorers” series of planetarium shows are developed as part of an
education partnership with NASA.
Due to the darkness of
the theater, there is no late seating for any planetarium show.
Planetarium schedule
changes:
Please note that
we’ll offer “Tropical Skies” in place of “Explorers of
Mauna Kea” on July 13 and 14.
On July 15, we’ll offer at 10:30 AM “Tropical Skies”
to go along with Lahaina Noon.
On July 7 (Family Sunday)
we will offer “The Sky Tonight” every half hour from 9:30 AM to
4:30 PM inclusive, in place of regular programming.
We are open on July 4,
and will have a regular planetarium schedule on that day.
“The Sky
Tonight,” an hour-long sky talk with Sam Rhoads, occurs on Monday, July 1
at 7:00 PM.
Reservations are
necessary, since Sam’s shows always fill. $4 for adults, $3 for kids, free to Bishop Museum members
and Hawaiian Astronomical Society members.
Reservations
for “The Sky Tonight”:
848-4168.
There
is no late seating.
Hawaiian
Astronomical Society:
The Astronomical
Society’s next meeting in Tuesday July 2. It happens at 7:30 PM in the Atherton Halau at the Bishop
Museum.
The HAS homepage:
Bishop Museum sky information lines
(808) 848-4136 for pre-recorded sky information and
planetarium schedule
(808) 848-4162 for planetarium office
Planetarium
homepage:
http://bishopmuseum.org/planetarium/
Bernice
Pauahi Bishop Museum, the State Museum of Cultural and Natural History was
founded in 1889 by Charles Reed Bishop as a memorial to his wife, Princess
Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last descendant of the royal Kamehameha
dynasty. It is open daily (except
Christmas) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admission is $14.95 for adults and $11.95 for children (four to 12
years). Children under four are
free. Kama‘aina rates are
available. The Museum is located
at 1525 Bernice Street. For
information, call (808) 847-3511.