91st Spring Meeting

by Aaron Price

Flying into Kona, I looked across the person sitting next to me and out of the window at a giant triangle dominating the view. “Oh my, there’s a volcano,” I said. I knew instantly this was going to be a new world. Indeed it was as Hawaii proved to be much more than I had imagined, as did the 91st AAVSO Spring Meeting and 2nd High-Energy Astrophysics Workshop. Landing and then arriving at the hotel continued the bit of culture shock. Everything was open-air, from the luggage carousels to the hotel lobby. The air itself was hot and humid. I was not prepared for this coming from what had been a relatively cool summer in Boston so far. The first night I spent talking on the beach with friends until about 2am. The next day I relaxed and took in the hotel and some local sights while preparing for the meeting. This proved to be important for after the meeting began things didn’t calm down for about a week!

On Sunday people registered and friendships were reconnected after a 9-month hiatus since the fall meeting. In the morning a meeting of the International Chart Working Group (ICWG) was held to try to “chart” a course for future chart revisions and sequence consolidation between various chart makers. The evening luau was sort of the opening ceremony for the week of meetings. The weather cooperated (was there any doubt?) and the Mai Tai’s were stronger than most had expected. The definite highlight of the evening was AAVSO President Dan Kaiser being selected from the audience to join a hula dancer on stage. Pictures of this event are available from the AAVSO web site (http://www.aavso.org/meetings/) for appropriate blackmailing. Monday was the official start of the AAVSO Spring Meeting. Janet Mattei gave her semi-annual report in the morning following short committee reports. Lou Cohen gave his first report as AAVSO Treasurer and everyone was very thankful for his service to the organization in this very important role. A “Town Hall” style discussion on the topic of charts followed. John Toone, of the British Astronomical Association, read the minutes from the Sunday ICWG meeting and took questions. Members were interested in the sequence-making procedures and also in technical details on the 2nd Edition of the AAVSO Variable Star Charts CD-ROM. One result of this discussion will be the future creation of an electronic mailing list dedicated to announcing chart updates.

The first half of the AAVSO scientific paper session began with a series of talks and performances by students and teachers of the TOPS workshop held during the two weeks prior to our meeting. The presentations ranged from beginner astronomy to advanced spectroscopic studies and all were tinged with an enjoyable Hawaiian cultural flavor. Hawaiian myths, music, humor, and art were used to describe astronomical processes and phenomena.

In the evening Karen Meech, former AAVSO technical assistant and Director of the TOPS workshop, gave a talk titled “Archaeoastronomy and Astronomy of Ancient Hawaii,” which was followed by a public star party by TOPS teachers. All guests of the hotel were notified earlier that day of the event so it was well attended not only by meeting attendees but also by other tourists. Several telescopes were set up and pointed at southern objects such as the Omega Cluster. Alpha Centauri was identified using those new green laser pointers and a valiant but failed attempt was made to ID the Southern Cross before it set behind the palm trees and the Pacific Ocean. Some AAVSO members set out for the beach and tried to observe, but clouds rolled in. Other intrepid spirits began what would become almost nightly trips up to the Mauna Kea Visitor’s Center to observe all night, or at least until clouds arrived.

As with every AAVSO meeting, friends both old and new closed out the bar talking about variable stars and life in their respective parts of the world. We were especially blessed to have many Australians and even a Kiwi at this meeting. It seemed every night they proudly commanded the largest tables in the “Clipper Lounge,” an open air restaraunt and bar next to the pool and beach. It was great to be able to put faces to such legends as Rod Stubbings and Stan Walker.

On Tuesday the AAVSO scientific paper session continued followed by a bus tour of local attractions. We visited a refuge where criminals could find sanctuary and forgiveness, a famous beach, Captain Cook’s Monument, a coffee plantation, and then broke up for meals in a local tourist town. That evening back at the hotel fellowship continued and the beginnings of the AAVSO hot tub club were formed. At the end of each day for the rest of the meeting a group of AAVSO members managed to find their way to one of the hotel’s two hot tubs to talk about life and telescopes and confuse any non-astronomers who were unfortunate enough to find themselves in the wrong hot tub at the wrong time. A local cat also adopted the hot tub and could often be found sitting quietly on lava rocks observing the group. One only wonders what the cat was thinking about (feline astrophysics?).

Wednesday for many was the big day and the main reason for coming to Hawaii. Attendees broke into two groups led by AAVSO staff member and meeting coordinator Rebecca Pellock and me. These groups left at separate times for a tour of the Mauna Kea summit. The first group went up early and came down in the early afternoon to meet the second group for lunch at the Visitor’s Center. Then the second group went up and returned a few hours later. I’ll leave it to individual visitors to describe their own experiences at the summit. Only a few people became ill and one person had to be evacuated to the Visitor Center, but was okay at the lower altitude. Personally, when I first arrived I felt a sense of giddiness followed by feeling slightly drunk, and then I settled into a feeling of slight lightheadedness. Interestingly, those are the same symptoms I feel when listening to Abba.

Mauna Kea is a truly unique place and visiting it is a unique experience. For me, on a purely personal level, I can completely understand why the native culture feels the ground is sacred. It can be seen from almost all across the island. The volcano is there from when you wake up and open the curtains to the last sliver of light at sunset. It completely dominates the weather pattern on the island with one side receiving over 200 inches of rain per year and the other receiving about 6. The island just would not be the same (or even exist) without it. We even saw the ultra rare silver sword plant that flowers only once every 150 years and then dies!

In the clear morning air you can easily see the domes of the observatories from the ground, even with poor eyesight. With such a fragile ecosystem and cultural importance, I don’t see why future development cannot be stopped. I realize that I am a rare voice in the astronomical community but I agree that development should be frozen. Anyone who reacted with horror at the Russian plans a few years ago to put a giant advertising platform in space or fights light pollution should feel the pain of the Hawaiin natives. They are just trying to protect an area of real estate that is vitally important to them - the volcano - just as we try to protect an area of real estate vitally important to us - the sky.

Politics and anthropology aside, the domes of the giant telescopes certainly filled me with a sense of awe, wonder, and historical appreciation for all that has occured (and is occuring!) there. The Gemini staff was wonderfully gracious with a fabulous tour. I was a bit disappointed with the Keck tour which amounted to walking into a dimly lit cage for five minutes and leaving with absolutely no guide or hint of what was what (although the backside of the hexagonal mirrors were quite obvious). The submillimeter array has always interested me because of their GRB work and the relatively unexplored nature of their region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The tour guide was both informative and entertaining. At request, he gave us a tour of the largest supercomputer in the Pacific Basin.

Coming down off the mountain I felt like a changed man. I felt like I had experienced something that would always be a part of me and influence my view of the universe. There are a select number of times in one’s life when you are so affected by such a short period of time and for me this was one of them.

That evening the opening reception for the High- Energy Astrophysics (HEA) workshop was held. It was the perfect complement to the exciting yet tiring day. Everything was relaxed and casual on a terrace overlooking the pools and ocean. Afterwards, everyone went back to their assigned seats on the beach, in the hot tub, at the bar, etc. The first day of the HEA Workshop went very smoothly. The professionals, many of them tops in their field, gave great presentations that hit the exact tone and technical level that the meeting attendees were hoping for. Everyone was refreshed on recent advances in the world of high-energy astrophysics in the last two years since the first HEA Workshop.

At the end of the day a 4th of July BBQ was held on the luau grounds. Of especial note was the dessert tray of which this author managed to sample one of each after forgetting to eat anything the previous 36 hours. As a staff member at these events I sometimes find myself running around during meals and as a vegetarian just grabbing something off the closest tray isn’t really an option. The dessert tray, preceded by a salad, solved all that!

Immediately following the culinary fireworks was a real 4th of July fireworks display. I observed it from the beach, with a palm tree frond silhouetted against the explosions. Instead of moving, I marveled at the sight, realizing that never in my life would I ever experience such a sight again. I believe that night was a hot tub night. Or was it a bar night? It’s hard to keep these matters in their proper place in the memory. I do remember that it was an especially clear night and a group of us trudged along a maze up the beach to do some observing with a TeleVue 102 that Steve Wolfe brought with him. I was impressed by the locals who orchestrated truly amazing and long lasting amateur fireworks displays on the beaches around the hotel well into the night.

Friday was the second day of the HEA workshop and the last official day of the AAVSO meeting. The talks on this day featured the results of previous observing campaigns with space telescopes such as Chandra, HST, and XMM and papers calling for future collaborations with the trinity of large space telescopes. In the evening the AAVSO banquet was held, closing both the AAVSO Spring Meeting and the HEA workshop. Many awards were given for observer totals, including a 100,000 observation award to Rod Stubbings of Australia. Roger Pickard, Director of the BAA Variable Star Section, announced that John Toone, also in attendance, had also reached the 100,000 mark during the AAVSO meeting. The AAVSO Director’s Award was given out by Janet Mattei to Tom Cragg. Cragg, with his requisite charm and humor, accepted the award and once again invited any AAVSO member to stay with him in Australia and see the southern skies. Scott Mecca announced the naming of a robotic telescope educational program after Cragg. Also receiving Director’s Awards were William Albrecht, a noted designer of the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope on Mauna Kea, AAVSO member Rod Stubbings, and Dick Wend, all for supporting special observing programs and for many years of service and observations.

Saturday was a busy day of touring volcanos and lava fields followed by sunset observing at Mauna Kea. It began with some excitement and confusion with local government authorities. With a group of this size something exciting is almost always bound to happen!

At Mauna Kea I ran into a couple of astronomers from the summit (observing with the CFH telescope and submillimeter array) who had come down for some fresh air before their shifts began. They were extremely kind and one regaled me with a story I’ll never forget. Last January there was a blizzard and the summit had to be evacuated. When he awoke the next morning from the cabins at the Visitor Center, he looked out his window and found the saddle road packed with cars at every location. Apparently the locals head up to the volcano when it snows. Some brought surf boards and tried to surf on it! Some tried to pile the snow into the back of their trucks to drive back (lots of burned out brakes and stranded cars were found down the mountain). Most built snowmen, so when the astronomers drove up to the summit for the next week they would head up a road lined with snowmen on both sides. Being from Boston, where most of the locals refer to snow with a four lettered word, I found this excitement funny and refreshing.

As the sun set, it looked like clouds were going to ruin the night of observing so many had hoped for. Mario Motta bravely helmed an 11-inch and targetted southern objects through sucker holes. This kept many occupied until around 10 p.m. when the skies cleared and those who dared to stay late (about 30-40 of us) were treated to one of the most magnificent views of the Milky Way I’ve ever seen.Almost, but not quite, it spanned horizon to horizon and you could see contrast and dust lanes almost everywhere you looked. As I was calling the last group to board the last van back to the hotel, I had trouble pulling my eyes off the sky and climbing aboard myself. We arrived back around 2 a.m. and the hotel was largely deserted except for a few in the hot tub.

The next day the hotel was setting up for yet another conference and our time on this island had come to a close. Before this trip, I was excited to see my friends again, but Hawaii itself didn’t really beckon me. I prefer cold climates and city scapes to remote humid beaches. However, I am converted and look forward to visiting this hotel again, this time with a loved one and on a vacation. I have never in my life visited an area that had such a consistently friendly populace in my life. The people were all beautiful inside and out and had such nice things to say. When running across someone in the hallway your gaze was more likely to be greated by an “aloha” than avoided with an expressionless face. I was determined to bring a little bit of the aloha spirit back to Boston with me. I cannot say enough about the place, both in terms of geography and culture. The Big Island of Hawaii is a great place and we should feel lucky for having had a wonderful meeting there.

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