Manaiakalani, the Chief’s Fishline, is the third of our four star families and is prominent in the sky during July, August and September. It follows our spring star family, Kaiwikuamoo, the Backbone, and our winter star family, Kekaomakalii, the Bailer of Makalii, and precedes our fall star family, Kalupeakawelo, the Kite of Kawelo.

The Navigator’s Triangle

Rising in the Koolau quadrant in the northeast section of our star compass are three stars from three different constellations that form Kahuinakoluokaho‘okele, the Navigator’s Triangle. Piraetea, or Deneb, the tail of Cygnus the Swan; Keoe, or Vega, in Lyra the Harp; and Humu, or Altair, in Aquila the Eagle. These three stars metaphorically portray a coil of fishing line resting in the hull of a canoe.

The fishing line spools from the Koolau quadrant in the northeast to the Malanai quadrant in the southeast and attaches itself to the top of Kamakaunuiomaui, Maui’s Fishook, or Scorpio in Greek mythology. Kamakaunuiomaui is identifiable as an obvious fishhook-shaped constellation with two stars that resemble a barb, Namaka, at the end of the hook. Toward the top of the fishhook is a ruby red star, Lehuakona, or Antares, the heart of the Scorpion and the 16th brightest star in the night sky.

Swimming next to the barb of Kamakaunuiomaui is Pimoe, or Sagittarius, a large ulua fish, or the celestial giant Trevally. Manaiakalani is metaphorically seen as a coil of fishing line that spools to the top of Kamakaunuiomaui enticing Pimoe to bite onto the baited barb of the fish hook. In the direction of Pimoe lies the galactic center of the Milky Way galaxy.

Our solar system is on the outer spiral arm of the Milky Way and the black hole in the center of our galaxy is found by looking in the direction of Sagittarius. You can use stars in Cygnus the swan to point toward celestial north and stars in Scorpio to point toward celestial south. Any two or three stars that pass through the meridian, that imaginary line that runs north-south and directly over your head, at the same time, are considered meridian pointers. When taking an imaginary line through them, meridian points will identify a point on the horizon corresponding to akau (north) or hema (south) on our star compass.

A line through Gienah, the lower wing of Cygnus, through Pira‘etea points to ‘akau on our star compass. A line through the three stars in the shank of Kamakaunuiomaui points to hema on our star compass. Knowing how to use meridian pairs for determining direction is one of the many skills needed in a wayfinder’s navigational repertoire.

Evening observations

In mid-July, observers may view all five of the visible planets — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn — at the same time.

The hardest to see will be Mercury. Because it is the closest planet to the sun, we always see Mercury relatively close to the sun and it sets not long after the sun sets. Mercury will be at its greatest eastern elongation, or its furthest position from the sun (in our perspective), on July 11. On that day it will set at 8:50 p.m. Additionally, because it is small and has very little atmosphere, it is one of the more difficult planets to spot.

The brightest planets are Venus and Jupiter, which will be high in the southwestern sky throughout July. Trailing behind Jupiter, in the southeast, will be the fainter but still spectacular Saturn.

Rising out of Manu Malanai (the southeast horizon) will be Mars. Through the beginning of July, Mars will not rise until around 8:30 p.m. It will be at opposition on July 26, which occurs when an outer planet (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus or Neptune) is on the opposite side of the Earth from the sun.

You may notice that the path of the planets form a lazy line across our sky. This path is referred to as the ecliptic, which represents the plane of the solar system from our perspective on Earth. The ecliptic is the path that passes through the 13 famous Zodiacal constellations.

Stretching from Manu Ko‘olau (the northeast horizon) over our head and down to Manu Kona (the southwest horizon) will be the spectacular band of the Milky Way. On a clear, dark night with little to no light pollution observers will see this fuzzy band light up the sky. At first the band could be mistaken for clouds but as we look closer we can clearly see stars in front of it.

For Hawaii, midsummer is ideal for viewing the Milky Way as we get a picturesque view of the “bulge” of the Milky Way, which will be rising out of Manu Malanai. When we look toward this wider and brighter portion of the Milky Way band we are looking in through the Sagittarius arm of the galaxy and in to the central region of the Milky Way itself. It is in this region that researchers using the observatories of Mauna Kea are studying the supermassive black hole in the center of our galaxy.

Morning observations

Through July, the sun will be rising at about 6 a.m., thus dawn will start to brighten the sky at around 5:30 a.m. Early morning observers looking at the sky before dawn will be looking toward a different area of the sky. High overhead will be the three bright stars of the Navigator’s Triangle, also known as the Summer Triangle, and rising in the northeast will be the “W” shape of ‘Iwakeli‘i (Cassiopea). Closer to the eastern horizon the distinctive star cluster of Makali‘i (the Pleiades) will be visible as well.

Chad Kalepa Baybayan is navigator-in-residence and Emily Peavy is planetarium technician support facilitator at ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai‘i at the University of Hawaii at Hilo.