Monday, October 12, 2009

Leaving the Beach

A L O H A, to YOU



and Welcome to. . .


Where is this?!
click on photos, doo dah
This bleakness has always been a place apart.
Scientists have sampled changes in the world's atmosphere from this
unique spot since 1951. Tropical splendor?




"Beautiful! Beautiful! Magnificent desolation."
Buzz Aldrin
(as he stepped out of the Eagle to join Neil Armstrong
on the first moon walk)




It is the summit of Mauna Loa, on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Our islands are the very tops of sea floor volcanoes.
Mauna Loa's Big Isle sister, Mauna Kea, is
(from the sea bed to it's peak)
the tallest feature on the face of the Earth.



"Two voices are there: one is of the sea,

One of the mountains,-each a mighty voice."


William Wordsworth


Mauna Kea means White Mountain.

Here (from Hilo Bay)
you can see her mantle of snow, the home of the goddess Poliahu;
also home to. . .



World-Class Astronomical Observatories.


If the stars should appear but one night every thousand years how man would marvel and stare.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson





Mauna Kea is arguably the BEST place to observe the heavens
because the thin atmosphere creates no optical barrier.
Ancient Kahuna made their observations here hundreds
of years before the invention of the telescope.
There is an uneasy truce between the scientists,
the University of Hawaii,
and native Hawaiian cultural practitioners who decry "desecration" of this unique place. Others feel that it fulfills & honors the ancient ways to
use this place in the same questing spirit.



In 1913 the US Army was still a segregated institution. Stationed here on Oahu, at Schofield Barracks (of From Here To Eternity fame) were a group of African American "Buffalo Soldiers." That name was given with respect to earlier units of such troops by Native Americans who faced them in battle.


These troops were sent to the Big Island to build trails, horse stables, and a summit cabin atop Mauna Loa (the place in the top photo) so scientists from the nascent Hawaii
Volcanoes National Park could study the eruptions of the day.

It takes a village to "do" science. And we have come to expect science to
repay us handsomely. Well, the Big Isle's peaks have not disappointed.

Just recently oxygen deprived astronomers discovered a giant galaxy surrounding the most distant, super-massive black hole ever found!
"It is surprising that such a large galaxy existed when the universe was
only one-sixteenth of it's present age, and that it hosted a black hole 1 billion times more massive than the sun," said UH Astronomer Tomotsugu Goto.

Then Rolf-Peter Kudritzki, director of the UH Institute for Astronomy, was awarded the 2009 Schwartzchild Prize by the German Astronomical Society.


And just last week the UH star gazers downgraded the odds of a 885-foot asteroid called Apophis slamming into our home planet on April 13, 2036 to one in 250,000. Apophis, the size of two American football fields, will make a preliminary visit passing within a mere 18,300 miles of our surface in 2029.
Details are being worked out, but the asteroid is rumored to be sponsored by Coca Cola.

The Big Island is the only place where you can snow board, see lava flowing, and relax on a tropic beach, all in one day!

A L O H A & Thank YOU

for your visit today! Cloudia




"People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering."
Saint Augustine of Hippo

25 comments:

  1. Holy crap! I hope Bruce Willis can make it till 2029 just in case we need him!

    Wil Harrison.com

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  2. We pass within ourselves daily but we never wonder.

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  3. wow, i had no idea, half of this info is new to me! Snow, lava and tropical beaches that really is WOW! ...and the time lapse up there on the peak WOW! BEAUTIFUL. thank you for sharing :)
    Aloha Kaua
    xsm

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  4. I've just been reading about the Goddess Artemis, whose symbol is the crescent moon. I bet She would love a place like this to gaze at her moon from!

    There is something for you, dear Cloudia, at my blog! :-)

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  5. When I saw the first photo, I thought:"Hey that's Norway in the mountains or New Zealand! I had no idea that there was such an extensive research centre in Hawaïi.

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  6. Very cool, Cloudia. I am a fan of places that give opportunities for snow play in the morning and sunning on a tropical beach in the afternoon. I'm not so sure about the lava, but I imagine I could learn to adapt. :)

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  7. It was nice to dust the sand off my flips and visit inland ... as always you open my eyes, my mind and my heart

    Aloha!

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  8. I remember the first time I learned there was snow in Hawaii, I was amazed, but of course, once I thought about it, it made perfect sense.

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  9. Very interesting post Cloudia. I never imagined you'd get snow in Hawaii.

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  10. I'd love to go see that observatory. wow.

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  11. Such an interesting post! Love that White Mountain pic. Snow in Hawaii?! Aloha, cher!

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  12. The beauty and power of the heavens and the beauty and power of the earth all together in one place called the Hawaiian Islands. Aloha, Cloudia.

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  13. I do love the way your islands are such treasures of folk lore and geographical features - I had no idea about them being the tops of volcanoes - fascinating Cloudia.

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  14. First pic is amazing.....namaste, Cloudia :)))

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  15. You have elevated my Monday to 'astronomical' heights. And St. Augustine is the icing on the cake.
    Have a great week!

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  16. Lov this blog and great people come here.
    bo

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  17. Amazing, you have a great view of the stars on top of all the other cool stuff.

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  18. Cool pics. The stars are so very bright and clear from the tophats of Hawaii. I prefer the beach...lots of snow in Kansas. DrumMajor

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  19. It is the stars, / The stars above us, govern our conditions.
    (King Lear, 4. Act)

    With a place where one is nearly not able to see stars due to much light, this was surely of interest to read, navigating through the night.
    A wonderful week for you.

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  20. A fascinating post Cloudia. I've heard of snow on the Big Island and skiing and snowboarding. Amazing!

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  21. you have a lovely blog here... it's like a mini-vacation!

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