Earth and Space News: Hawaii only U.S. subsolar point state

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Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Hilo Welcomes Second 2017 Lahaina Noon Monday, July 24

Summary: Hilo welcomes its second 2017 Lahaina Noon Monday, July 24, at 12:27 p.m. as the sun makes the second of two annual passes directly overhead.

Isamu Noguchi's Sky Gate sculpture marks annual Lahaina noon in May and in July in Honolulu: OnlyInHawaii.org @Only_In_Hawaii, via Twitter Jan. 30, 2017

Hilo welcomes its second 2017 Lahaina Noon Monday, July 24, at 12:27 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time with the sun’s second of two annual, directly overhead passes above the Big Island of Hawaii.

The two passes directly overhead occur twice yearly, in May and in July, in the Hawaiian archipelago. The Island of Hawaii, popularly known as the Big Island, is the last of the eight main Hawaiian islands to experience July’s placement directly overhead.

The Hawaiian language refers to the solar event as kau ka lā i ka lolo (“the sun rests on the brains”). Native Hawaiians consider Lahaina Noon as a time of great personal power. The disappearance of a person’s shadow allows for the internal buildup of spiritual power, known as mana, and induces alignment with universal forces.

A naming contest sponsored in 1990 by Honolulu’s Bernice Pauahi Museum is responsible for the popular term of Lahaina Noon. The word Lahaina means “cruel sun” (lā hainā) in the Hawaiian language.

Hawaii rates as the only one of the United States’ 50 states with directly overhead solar occurrences. The sun’s attainment of its zenith, or highest point in the sky, at solar noon happens only over Earth’s tropics. The solar event is restricted to latitudes lying from the equator northward to the Northern Hemisphere’s Tropic of Cancer and southward to the Southern Hemisphere’s Tropic of Capricorn.

Hilo’s location at 19 degrees 42 minutes 20 seconds north latitude and 155 degrees 5 minutes 9 seconds west longitude places the Big Island’s county seat south of the Tropic of Cancer and north of the Tropic of Capricorn. The Tropic of Cancer lies at 23.4371 degrees north latitude.

The sun’s attainment of the zenith directs rays toward perpendicular contact with the Earth’s surface. The place of sunlight’s perpendicular contact with the surface is identified as the subsolar point. The angle formed by sunlight with the local ground level always measures 90 degrees at the subsolar point.

Lahaina Noon affects shadows. Shadows usually cast by vertical objects are absent during Lahaina Noon.

July’s Lahaina Noon marks the sun’s apparent journey southward from the Tropic of Cancer to its southernmost zenith at the Tropic of Capricorn, known as the Southern Tropic, in the Southern Hemisphere. The December solstice signals the instant of the subsolar point’s occurrence on the Tropic of Capricorn.

The exact date and time of Lahaina Noon varies in accordance with latitude in the Hawaiian archipelago. The Big Island’s northerly location in the archipelago accounts for early instances of Lahaina Noon during the sun’s northward passage in May and late instances during the sun’s southward journey in July.

Oahu’s location northwest of the Big Island accounts for Lahaina Noon occurring there days later in May and days earlier in July. Oahu’s Skygate sculpture hosts a popular capture of Lahaina Noon that precedes Hilo’s sunlit-illumination of ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai’i’s atrium floor mosaic in July.

Unveiled in 1977, Sky Gate is a tripod sculpture by American artist Isamu Noguchi (Nov. 17, 1904-Dec. 30, 1988). The 24-foot (7.3-meter) sculpture is located between the Mission Memorial Auditorium (MMA) and Honolulu’s municipal building, known as Honolulu Hale. A curvy ring tops the tripod.

Twice yearly, in May and in July, the ring announces Lahaina Noon by casting a circular shadow onto the ground below. The ring’s horizontal placement allows for the shadows that elude vertical structures and people during Lahaina Noon.

Tory Laitila, registrar at the Mayor’s Office of Culture and Arts, says in a June 2008 article in Honolulu Magazine that the ring’s Lahaina Noon shadow is not mentioned in Noguchi’s notes about Sky Gate.

But, as Laitila explains, “Art is a subjective experience, and artists like to leave things for the viewer to discover.”

The takeaway for Hilo’s welcome of the second 2017 Lahaina Noon Monday, July 24, is the Hawaiian archipelago's appreciation of the solar phenomenon, including capturing the event's instant of occurrence via artworks in Hilo and in Honolulu.

July 2017 Lahaina Noon dates
Wednesday, July 12, at 12:42 p.m. at Lihue, Kauai
Sunday, July 16, at 12:34 p.m. at Kaunakakai, Molokai
Sunday, July 16, at 12:37 p.m. at Honolulu, Oahu
Tuesday, July 18, at 12:30 p.m. at Hana, Maui
Tuesday, July 18, at 12:32 p.m. at Kahului, Maui
Tuesday, July 18, at 12:33 p.m. at Lahaina, Maui
Tuesday, July 18, at 12:34 p.m. at Lanai City, Lanai
Monday, July 24, at 12:27 p.m. at Hilo, Hawaii (the Big Island)
Monday, July 24, at 12:30 p.m. at Kailua-Kona, Hawaii (the Big Island)

Located between Honolulu Hale (Honolulu's municipal building) and the Mission Memorial Auditorium (MMA), Sky Gate by American sculptor Isamu Noguchi is designed, intentionally or unintentionally, to mark May and July instances of Lahaina Noon in Honolulu by casting circular shadow of ringed top onto ground below; 530 South King Street, Honolulu HI 96815; Sep. 24, 2013, 15:53:21: brx0, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Isamu Noguchi's Sky Gate sculpture marks annual Lahaina noon in May and in July in Honolulu: OnlyInHawaii.org @Only_In_Hawaii, via Twitter Jan. 30, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/Only_In_Hawaii/status/826017152431972353

Ali, Nancy Alima. “Noon Sun Not Directly Overhead Everywhere.” Star Bulletin > Archives. May 11, 2010.
Available @ http://archives.starbulletin.com/content/20100511_Noon_sun_not_directly_overhead_everywhere/

Bryan, E.H. (Edwin Horace), Jr.; Richard Crowe; and Timothy F. Slater. Stars Over Hawaii. Third revised edition. Hilo HI: Petroglyph Press, 2015.

‘Imiloa Astronomy Center. “2017 Sky Calendar.” ‘Imiloa > Explore > Sky Information > Yearly Observational Astronomy Highlights.
Available @ http://www.imiloahawaii.org/56/yearly-observational-astronomy-highlights-

Keany, Michael. “Skygate.” Honolulu Magazine. June 30, 2008.
Available @ http://www.honolulumagazine.com/Honolulu-Magazine/July-2008/Skygate/

"Lahaina Noon 2017 + Tips to Avoid Sunburn on Hawaii Vacations." Beat of Hawaii. April 6, 2017.
Available @ http://beatofhawaii.com/lahaina-noon-10-tips-to-avoid-sunburn-on-hawaii-vacation/

Marriner, Derdriu. “2016’s First Lahaina Noon Is May 15; Next 2016 Lahaina Noon Is July 11.” Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 11, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/05/2016s-first-lahaina-noon-is-may-15-next.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Hilo Welcomes First 2017 Lahaina Noon Thursday, May 18." Earth and Space News. Wednesday, May 10, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/05/hilo-welcomes-first-2017-lahaina-noon.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Second 2016 Lahaina Noon Experience Begins Monday, July 11.” Wednesday, July 6, 2016.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/07/second-2016-lahaina-noon-experience.html

OnlyInHawaii.org @Only_In_Hawaii. “Sky Gate and Lahaina Noon -- Astrological Attraction in Honolulu, Hawaii.” Twitter. Jan. 30, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/Only_In_Hawaii/status/826017152431972353

Pukui, Mary Kawena; Samuel Hoyt Elbert. “Lolo.” Hawaiian Dictionary. Honolulu HI: University of Hawai’I Press, 2003.
Available @ http://wehewehe.org/gsdl2.85/cgi-bin/hdict?a=q&j=pk&l=en&q=Lolo&af=0

“Sky Gate and Lahaina Noon – Astrological Attraction in Honolulu, Hawaii.” Only In Hawaii > Attractions > Architectural Landmarks.
Available @ http://onlyinhawaii.org/sky-gate-lahaina-noon-honolulu-hawaii/?platform=hootsuite

SubaruTelescopeNAOJe. “Lahaina Noon at Subaru Telescope’s Base Facility.” YouTube. Oct. 30, 2012.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCjEyITpRAI

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Hilo Welcomes First 2017 Lahaina Noon Thursday, May 18

Summary: Hilo welcomes its first 2017 Lahaina Noon Thursday, May 18, at 12:16 p.m. as the sun makes the first of two annual passes directly overhead.

detail of Clayton Bryant Young's glass-tiled mosaic on ‘Imiloa Center’s atrium floor; the 14-foot circular mosaic is illuminated by the overhead skylight during Hilo’s twice annual experiences of Lahaina Noon; Saturday, April 12, 2008, 13:40:27: brewbooks, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Hilo welcomes its first 2017 Lahaina Noon Thursday, May 18, at 12:16 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time with the sun’s first of two annual, directly overhead passes above the Big Island of Hawaii.

The sun’s twice yearly placement directly overhead occurs in May and again in July. The Island of Hawaii is the first of the eight main Hawaiian Islands to experience May’s overhead placement.

The United States’ 50th state is the only state where the tropical phenomena of a directly overhead sun occurs. The sun reaches its zenith, or highest point in the sky, at solar noon only over the tropical band demarcated by the Southern Hemisphere’s Tropic of Capricorn and the Northern Hemisphere’s Tropic of Cancer.

The Tropic of Cancer circles the Earth as 23.4371 degrees north latitude. Hilo’s geographic coordinates are 19 degrees 42 minutes 20 seconds north latitude and 155 degrees 5 minutes 9 seconds west longitude.

Lahaina Noon announces itself with shadowless drama. Vertical objects cast no shadows because the sun’s rays are directed perpendicularly to the Earth’s surface.

The place on the surface receiving perpendicular rays is known as the subsolar point. Sunlight always forms an angle of 90 degrees with the subsolar point.

May’s Lahaina Noon reflects the sun’s apparent journey across Earth’s sky toward its northernmost zenith at the Tropic of Cancer. The June solstice marks the instant of the subsolar point’s placement on the Tropic of Cancer.

The term Lahaina Noon comes from a naming contest sponsored in 1990 by the Hawai’I State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, known as the Bernice Pauahi Museum, in Honolulu. Lahaina derives from the Hawaiian descriptor lā hainā, which means “cruel sun.”

The authentic Hawaiian phrase for the solar phenomenon is kau ka lā i ka lolo (“the sun rests on the brains”), according to Nancy Alima Ali during her tenure as manager of the Hokulani Imaginarium at Windward Community College in Kaneohe (Hawaiian: Kāneʻohe), southeastern Oahu. Native Hawaiians equate the disappearance of a person’s shadow with extreme personal power, expressed as a spiritual energy called mana. During Lahaina Noon, a person’s mana collects inside and effects an alignment with universal forces.

Located in Hilo, ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai’i captures the astronomical event through illumination of the atrium floor’s mosaic by the center’s sunlit skylight. The atrium’s circular atrium measures 14 feet in diameter and comprises 140,000 individual glass tiles.

The glass-tile mosaic is an adaptation of “Voyage of the Navigator,” a center-commissioned oil painting by the island’s Puna district artist, Clayton Bryant Young. The original painting, which measures about 40 inches square, hangs in the ‘Imiloa Center’s conference room.

Tropical latitude in the Hawaiian archipelago determines the exact date and time of Lahaina Noon. As the most northerly of the eight main Hawaiian Islands, the Big Island of Hawaii claims first instances of Lahaina Noon during the sun’s northward passage in May.

The takeaway for Hilo’s welcome of the first 2017 Lahaina Noon Thursday, May 18, is the Hawaiian archipelago’s uniqueness as the only U.S. state with subsolar points.

May 2017 Lahaina Noon dates
Thursday, May 18, at 12:16 p.m. at Hilo, Hawaii (the Big Island)
Thursday, May 18, at 12:20 p.m. at Kailua-Kona, Hawaii (the Big Island)
Tuesday, May 23, at 12:20 p.m. at Hana, Maui
Tuesday, May 23, at 12:24 p.m. at Lanai City, Lanai
Wednesday, May 24, at 12:22 p.m. at Kahului, Maui
Wednesday, May 24, at 12:23 p.m. at Lahaina, Maui
Thursday, May 25, at 12:25 p.m. at Kaunakakai, Molokai
Friday, May 26, at 12:28 p.m. at Honolulu, Oahu
Wednesday, May 31, at 12:35 p.m. at Lihue, Kauai

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Texas-born, Hawaii-transplanted artist Clayton Bryant Young's Voyage of Discovery mosaic is fully illuminated by the twice-yearly solar phenomenon of Lahaina Noon in 'Imiloa Astronomy Center' atrium, Hilo, the Big Island, Hawaii: Imiloa Astronomy Center @imiloaastronomycenter, via Facebook May 17, 2011, @ https://www.facebook.com/imiloaastronomycenter/photos/a.107428654186.116707.46156119186/10150257280579187/

For further information:

Bryan, E.H. (Edwin Horace), Jr.; Richard Crowe; and Timothy F. Slater. Stars Over Hawaii. Third revised edition. Hilo HI: Petroglyph Press, 2015.

Burnett, John. “Artistic Voyage: ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii’s Floor Mosaic Is Puna Man’s Vision.” Hawaii Tribune Herald. March 3, 2006.
Available @ http://www.claytonyoungstudio.com/uploads/1/2/5/2/12522754/clayton_young_artistic_voyage.pdf

Imiloa Astronomy Center @imiloaastronomycenter. "Voyage of the Navigator last year's Lahaina Noon 2010." Facebook. May 17, 2011.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/imiloaastronomycenter/photos/a.107428654186.116707.46156119186/10150257280579187/

Jenn K. “Lahaina Noon.” Living Hilo Style. May 18, 2016.
Available @ https://livinghilostyle.com/2016/05/18/lahaina-noon/

"Lahaina Noon 2017 + Tips to Avoid Sunburn on Hawaii Vacations." Beat of Hawaii. April 6, 2017.
Available @ http://beatofhawaii.com/lahaina-noon-10-tips-to-avoid-sunburn-on-hawaii-vacation/

Living Hilo Style @livinghilostyle. “Lahaina Noon.” Twitter. May 18, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/livinghilostyle/status/733116036090724352

“Sky Gate and Lahaina Noon -- Astrological Attraction in Honolulu, Hawaii.” Only In Hawaii > Attractions > Architectural Landmarks.
Available @ http://onlyinhawaii.org/sky-gate-lahaina-noon-honolulu-hawaii/?platform=hootsuite

SubaruTelescopeNAOJe. “Lahaina Noon at Subaru Telescope’s Base Facility.” YouTube. Oct. 30, 2012.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCjEyITpRAI

Vrecinto. “Hilo Lahaina Noon 2015.” ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii > Blog. May 12, 2015.
Available @ http://blog.imiloahawaii.org/general-information/hilo-lahaina-noon-2015/