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.
This trio of stars represents a spool of fishing line coiled on the bottom of a canoe hull that leads to the southwest and is attached to the top of Kamakaunuiamaui, Maui’s Fishhook, the constellation Scorpius. The baited fishhook entices Pimoe, Sagittarius, the celestial crevalle from the tales of the demigod Maui. Pimoe is seen as a celestial teapot, with a cover, spout and handle. Within Sagittarius lies our Milky Way galaxy. In a section of Sagittarius defined as Sagittarius A, astronomers have found evidence of a super massive black hole.
For thousands of years, well before the birth of Christ, cultures around the world have been visualizing figures in the night sky. Today we call these figures asterisms or constellations — the difference being that an asterism represents a collection of stars that form a pattern, while an official constellation is a formation of stars perceived as a figure.
Around these figures, humans have created stories of heroes, animals and gods. We remember them today because the cultures that spawned those names had a written language, a tradition that began in Babylon, continued in Greece and moved on to Persia.
An astronomer of either Greek or Hellenistic Egyptian ancestry, Claudius Ptolemy, catalogued 48 constellations in his treatise Almagest, and another 40 were later added. Some of the most popular constellations known today are Orion, Scorpio, Perseus and Hercules, names that modern astronomers continue to use.
Special events
Sept. 22 marks the autumnal, or fall, equinox, when the sun will rise exactly east and set exactly west. In the Northern Hemisphere it marks the first day of fall. Despite the name “equinox,” this day will not actually be equally divided into day and night. In Hawaii, Sept. 27 will come closest to that, with daylight lasting 12 hours and 26 seconds. As winter approaches, the sun will rise and set in the southern sky and days will grow shorter.
Evening observations
East of Pimoe, observers will spot the two largest planets in the solar system, Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter will stand out as one of the brightest objects in the evening sky. A good telescope will reveal some of Jupiter’s largest moons and even the bands of gas in Jupiter’s atmosphere. The different colored bands indicate different gases that are rising and sinking in Jupiter’s great atmosphere, pushed along by hurricane force winds.
The observatories on Mauna Kea often examine Jupiter with infrared light, revealing powerful lightning strikes and hidden storm systems dissecting the atmosphere of this gas giant.
While Saturn will be significantly fainter to the naked eye, it is still a stunning sight, even when viewed just through binoculars. Through a good telescope, observers will be able to see Saturn’s famous and stunning rings, made up of tiny pieces of rock dust and ice. At 9 p.m., the red planet Mars will begin to rise in the east.
Planets are often some of the most notable objects in our sky. A total of five planets have been easily observed in the evening sky since ancient times — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Uranus and Neptune were discovered in the 1800s.
Today, astronomers at observatories on Mauna Kea are still on the lookout for new planets in our solar system and beyond. You can help the astronomers of the Keck Observatory in this endeavor through the citizen science project “Backyard Worlds: Planet 9.” You’ll be able to look through unique data and potentially discover a never before seen planet! Participate online at 808ne.ws/planet9.
Morning observations
Throughout September, dawn will begin to color the sky at around 5:30 a.m. and the sun will rise around 6:15 a.m. In these early morning hours, we will be able to observe the famous shape of Orion, Kaheiheionakeiki, high in the southern sky.
Toward Manu Malanai, the incredibly bright star ‘A‘a, Sirius, will be highly noticeable as the sun rises. ‘A‘a is the brightest star that can be seen at twilight; in September’s morning sky it will appear to be a little fainter than the planet Venus, which will also be rising in the east.
Venus is one of the brightest objects in the sky, and as such is only viewable at particular times and is famously known as the “morning star” or the “evening star.” Venus is also the object most commonly mistaken for a UFO.
September 2020 Sky Chart by Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Chad Kalepa Baybayan (Kalepa.Baybayan@hawaii. edu) is navigator-in-residence and Emily Peavy (Emily.Peavy@hawaii.edu) is 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.
