Ka‘ū News Briefs, Sunday, December 1, 2019

Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park's Kaʻena Point, located at the end of Chain of Craters Road, is one of the closest  of 21 places Kaʻū residents can sign up for to participate in the annual Sanctuary Ocean Count of humpback whales.  See details on this year's count, below. Photo from NOAA

THE HAWAIʻI FARMERS UNION UNITED meeting in Kaʻū this weekend brought forth many ideas, including the future of growing hemp. Several members of the organization talked about the possibility of three hemp harvests per year here, versus one harvest in many places on the mainland. Three harvests could make hemp a viable crop small farmers, even though land is expensive and labor in short supply.
     While Hawaiʻi has a lack of vast farmland  to grow hemp and harvest it with large machinery like in Canada and the U.S. mainland, small farms here could be be profitable. Several attending the meeting said they worked on hemp farms in Colorado and would like to try it out here.
     Others said that by the end of 2020, the state will work out guidelines for farmers to grow hemp. In recent years, growing has been limited to test plots, carefully regulated and limited by the state.

Dr. Jana Bogs lives at South Point and said she is willing to help local farmers enrich the soils to make more nutrient rich foods. Photo from Beyond Organic

     Rep. Richard Creagan, chair of the state House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture, said that when the rules and regs are finalized, there will be no attempt to limit the number of growers.
     With the growing ideal in Hawaiʻi, said Greg Smith, a licensee for one of the hemp test plots, one of the challenges is keeping CBD in the hemp under the federal limit of .3 percent for the active ingredient in many legal products. Creagan and Smith said that the limit could be controlled through genetics of the plant. Some said that genetics through the GMO process to limit the percentage of CBD might dim the market. Other ways of breeding could be attempted. Perhaps federal approval could be received to extract the extra the CBD, to bring the hemp into the legal standard.
     In other topics, a South Point farmer, Dr. Jana Bogs, said her goal is to grow food with more nutrients. She said she has a PhD in horticulture and has found that the nutrients in edible plants can be doubled through managing the soil where they grow. She said farming for the most nutrients is "beyond organic." She also said she is involved in revamping the garden at the stone Catholic Church that fell down in the 1868 great earthquake in Kaʻū, and that it will once again be open to the public through the Nāʻālehu Main Street program. She said she is available to help people with soil testing, and nutrient enrichment suggestions for their farms. See beyondorganicresearch.com. She has written several books, including Beyond Organic, Growing for Maximum Nutrition.
      See more in Monday's Ka`u News Briefs.

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To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter. See our online calendars and our latest print edition at kaucalendar.com.

Keanu Keolanui. Photo from KITV News

KEANU KEOLANUI, SON OF EDMUND C. OLSON TRUST staff member and trustee Troy Keolonui, became a football hero on Saturday when he kicked a 55 yard field goal, to give Hilo High
School the state championship. Keolanui made the kick with with no time remaining. Hilo Vikings beat ʻIolani Raiders 20-17 at Aloha Stadium on Oʻahu. It was Hilo's second state championship in high school football in three years. This season, the Vikings went undefeated.
     Keolanui told KITV, "I always wanted a game winning field goal, and I did in in the biggest game. I'm just happy that I get to do this on my senior year. It ended on a good note... The feeling is so good. I just want to say, 'Thank you' to everybody. This is a very special moment in my life."

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter. See our online calendars and our latest print edition at kaucalendar.com.

How to use this map: Hold this map overhead so that the northern horizon points toward the north on the Earth. For best results, use a red flashlight to illuminate the map. If looking east, hold it in front of you so that east is on the bottom. For south views, south at the bottom, and for west, west at the bottom. Use this map at the times shown on in its upper left corner. Keep this page handy and show it to your keiki next month. They probably have bedtimes before the time of the chart shown here. The constellations are presented with their 3-letter abbreviations, with their common names shown in the margins. This is done to take advantage of the truly dark skies Ka‘ū is blessed with when there is no bright moon and the skies are clear of vog. The star charts are produced from a sky Atlas program written by Jerry Hudson, who has given us permission to publish it. Thank you, Jerry.

STARS OVER KAʻŪ - December 2019, by Lew & Donna Cook
     Planets and Exoplanets
     The transit of Mercury – the planet crossed between us and the sun – is now history. It was underwhelming, yet an earlier transit is one of Lew's most distinct astronomical memories. That was a long time ago. He had use of the 11.5 inch Alvin Clark & Sons refracting telescope on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge, LA. Venus went across the face of the sun for the last time this century in June of 2012, and was impressive – if you had the right equipment.
     This month, Venus, after passing past and in front of Saturn on the 10th, is low in the southwest in the early evening. Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter all set before chart time. Jupiter set just after 6 p.m. It will set earlier and earlier as the sun creeps around eastward. Mars is a morning star. Check it out a couple of hours before sunrise.

Lew's images for the recurrent nova in the Andromeda galaxy, M31. This nova is watched by a team of amateur and professional astronomers. It has erupted every year since it was discovered in 2008. It is suspected of being close to becoming a supernova. Image copyright 2019 by L. M. Cook

     The Recurrent Nova in the Andromeda Galaxy
     Last month Lew was busy with monitoring and reporting the recurrent nova in the Andromeda. It erupted on Nov. 6, 2019. It also erupted on Nov. 6, 2018. This star is believed to be on its way to becoming a supernova. Parts of Lew's images showing the before and after eruption are shown here. The image is shown as a negative - the same way our chart is drawn.
     Constellations
     In the east, Orion's large hunting dog has risen. The Bull, Taurus, is approaching the zenith, the point directly overhead. Also Gemini, the twins, have cleared the horizon. Higher up in the eastern sky is Auriga, the Charioteer following south east of Perseus, the brave hero who cut the head off of the monster Medusa. One glance at Medusa would turn you to stone.
     Disappearing in the west are Cygnus, the swan, and Aquarius, the water carrier, following Capricorn, the Goat. That's in the southwest. If you look to the southeast, you'll see the three constellations that make up Jason and the Argonauts' ship: Puppis, the deck, Vela, the sail, and Carina, the Keel.
     Fridays Sunrise and Sunset times:
     Date                 Sunrise     Sunset
     Dec. 6, 2019    6:42 am    5:44 pm
     Dec. 13            6:46 am    5:46 pm
     Dec. 20            6:50 am    5:49 pm
     Dec. 27            6:54 am    5:43 pm
     The times of sunrise and sunset are not changing rapidly now that the solistice is upon us. The sun is at its southernmost range.
     Moon Phases
     Phase                Date         Moonrise    Moonset
     First Quarter     Dec. 3     12:35 pm     12:21 am**
     Full Moon        Dec. 11    5:47 pm       7:12 am**
     Last Quarter     Dec. 18   11:36 pm*    12:26 pm
     New Moon       Dec. 25    6:27 am       5:44 pm
     First Quarter    Jan. 2       12:22 pm     12:34 am**
     *previous night **next morning
     Local Attractions
     The ‘Imiloa Planetarium in Hilo Restaurant schedule: Closed Mondays; Breakfast & Lunch, 7 AM - 4 PM daily; Dinner, 5 PM - 8:30 PM, Thursday through Sunday. Check for the schedule at imiloahawaii.org. Members are admitted free to the daily shows.
     There is a night show once a month, when smaller telescopes on Maunakea are linked to the Planetarium where they show live shots of individual objects. Call the Planetarium at (808) 932-8901 for info on the schedule and ticket availability, prices and membership costs. Please mention to the nice folks at the ticket sales desk where you got the inspiration to come, and that you are entitled to the 10% kamaʻaina discount for membership.