Posted onAugust 22, 2017|Comments Off on Hawaii’s Glimpse at the Great American Solar Eclipse
Starting with this post, Bypass Avenue will expand to cover some of my personal commentaries about non-health related items such as the solar eclipse which occurred yesterday. This post also appears at my Hawaii Files Blog site.
By Melvin Ah Ching, Editor & Publisher, The Hawaii Files Blog
As solar eclipses go, yesterday’s partial one in Honolulu was adequately good. The Great American Solar Eclipse of 2017 was a huge phenomena and event throughout the continental United States as the path of totality traveled eastward in a narrow 70 mile wide band from the Oregon coast to the tip of South Carolina. Much of the continent had a good partial eclipse that covered most of the sun.
In a solar eclipse, the moon’s shadow blots out the sunlight as it passes between the sun and the Earth. During totality that shadow blocks out nearly all sunlight except for a narrow band around the perimeter that creates a remarkable and unforgettable view. Solar eclipses are rare occurrences that track within small and varied regions of Earth’s surface. Within the eclipse’s band, many areas get a partial eclipse while totality only occurs within a smaller zone.
Millions of people on the U.S.continent witnessed and captured images of the eclipse going into and out of totality including the 2 minute long phase of full shadowed coverage.
In Honolulu, my friend Lisa Davidson and I awoke early and trekked to the Waialae Kahala Beach Park an hour before sunrise to secure a good viewing spot that I scoped out the day before. Anticipating the eclipse, which started near Hawaii, Lisa and I both photographed the changing light around us as night receded into the new day. The rising sun was going to be in the eclipse process. I had to be prepared for that.
I had three cameras with me including my Canon 600D SLR with a 300mm lens set up on a tripod, Fujifilm HS10 EVF with a wide to long built in zoom lens, and a Samsung smart phone that can also do pictures. Lisa had her trusty little Samsung that she used to catch the “feel” of the moments. We both had protective eclipse viewers that I got last year from Bishop Museum. I used the 58mm screw on sun filter for the cameras to get eclipse images.
We were set. We waited. Talked. Photographed. The sunrise was pretty, but the clouds were getting in the way. I was wondering if the clouds would pre-empt my eclipse view.
Eclipse times for Hawaii from timeanddate.com.
Sunrise in Honolulu was at 6:11 am. Moonrise was 2 minutes earlier at 6:09am. The eclipse began at 5:50am before the sun rose. Everything was in motion for a good eclipse except for the clouds.
It was not until 7:16 am that I caught my first fleeting glimpse of the sun poking through the clouds. I fired the Canon for a continuous burst of images as the clouds slowly broke and the sun revealed its new face for a few moments. And then the clouds rolled back in.
I got a few images but I wanted more. My wish came true as the clouds slowly blew away and the eclipsed sun appeared again as I fired more frames off with the camera. I got my 20% or probably a little less than that. It was better than nothing and certainly better than the 10% that I got during last year’s eclipse from Magic Island.
I snapped more photos in the next 15 minutes of the waning spectacle.
Lisa was thrilled as she was able to see the eclipse through my camera’s LCD screen and the protective filters that allowed us to view the show with our own eyes. She was very thankful that I shared these moments with her.
By 7:30 in the morning the eclipse was over. The sun was out, the day was bright and life would continue as it always does.
It turns out that this year’s solar eclipse is the last one to be visible in Hawaii until April 8, 2024, when another total eclipse will be viewable in the continental United States. The next total solar eclipse occurs in the southeastern Pacific Ocean and over the South American countries of Chile and Argentina on July 2, 2019.
Photos by Mel unless indicated.
This is one of the best shots I got of yesterday’s solar eclipse. Investing in a screw on solar lens filter is worth the money!
The beautiful but sunlight blocking clouds over Koko Head.
Catching a live video stream while waiting for clouds to depart.
The beautiful Hawaiian sunrise and clouds blocked the sun for nearly 40 minutes after the eclipse began.
Watching a live stream from Oregon as we waited out the clouds.
You can get a decent shot out of your cell phone camera if you put one of those protective eye safety filters in front of your camera lens. Lisa did that and it got her this picture with the tiny sun chopped slightly to the bottom left.
Solar eclipse view from Ontario, Canada. Keith Watson Photography.
Totality, August 21, 2017 – Kansas, United States. Michael Watson, photographer.
International Space Station in transit ahead of the moon. NASA. You can also see sunspots in this excellent photo.
KHON TV’s McKenna Maduli reports on the eclipse from Waialae Kahala Beach park not too far away from where we were. There are 3 clips embedded in this video composite.
Posted onMay 11, 2017|Comments Off on Yes I’m Still Alive!
It’s been a few months since the last blog post. I am happy to report that 1. I am still alive and 2. I try to live my life the best as I possibly can within the tight confines of my situation. No I have not regressed on a downward spiral. Fact is at my last check-up on April 6, I did fairly good.
My vitals are ok.
Weight 220 lbs. down from 231 in October.
Blood Pressure 120/64 April 6
Blood Pressure Today 114/70 (home test)
I am taking several regular medications but that has been reduced from the many I used to take shortly after I got out of surgery. It has been more than a year now since the heart surgery.
I am also eating healthier though I sometimes have to enjoy myself and indulge once in awhile. Mostly though it is fish or skinless boneless chicken, vegetables, lots of onions, no salt, drinking only water 99% of the time, eating some breads with spreads for breakfast. I also eat oatmeal fairly regularly with only water and cinnamon added in – no sugar. I should do a healthy food post.
Exercise – I try to walk 2 miles every day and for the most part I do. Best times for walking is early in the morning or early evening. Once in a while I walk right smack in the middle of the day. Been keeping track of most of my walk with pedometer software installed on 2 of the 3 smart-phones I own (only one of them is connected to an active service).
I’ll write more about walking, eating, health technology, and whatever else.
However I am writing to let you know that I am expanding the scope of the blog to include other stories in my life, such as job hunting, past accomplishments, photos essays and whatever. I do have separate blogs to cover many of those (look at the sidebar) but perhaps some of those types of topics may be cross-posted here.
Until the next post, aloha!
Photos appearing on this page and the rest of the blog were taken by me unless noted.
Posted onDecember 30, 2016|Comments Off on One Year Old and Counting
Turned a ripe old age of 1 today.
Today is my First Birthday. It is the first year anniversary of my triple heart bypass surgery. I’m one. I survived the first year. Hopefully there are many more years to come.
On this day a year ago, I was wheeled into the surgical unit before 7:00 a.m. in the morning and before I knew it after talking to a few people while on a gurney, I fell into a deep sleep and never got up again until sometime after 4:30 that afternoon.
Upon waking up, I was a new man, in some pain and discomfort, but most definitely fixed and saved from my harrowing brush with death. It was an uphill climb for there which challenges me to this very day to exercise and to eat healthy foods.
I mark this day with this short and brief entry to say “Hello, I made it”.
I will hopefully blog more in the coming new year. May you all have a great 2017.
My name is Mel and I am a longtime blogger and web publisher. “Bypass Avenue” is my personal blog that started as a result of having a heart attack and undergoing triple bypass surgery in 2015.
Today the blog has expanded to cover items in a variety of topics which may include observations about life, commentary, photos and other images, tech advice, family and not forgetting this blog’s origin, health.
Hawaii’s Glimpse at the Great American Solar Eclipse
Starting with this post, Bypass Avenue will expand to cover some of my personal commentaries about non-health related items such as the solar eclipse which occurred yesterday. This post also appears at my Hawaii Files Blog site.
By Melvin Ah Ching, Editor & Publisher, The Hawaii Files Blog
As solar eclipses go, yesterday’s partial one in Honolulu was adequately good. The Great American Solar Eclipse of 2017 was a huge phenomena and event throughout the continental United States as the path of totality traveled eastward in a narrow 70 mile wide band from the Oregon coast to the tip of South Carolina. Much of the continent had a good partial eclipse that covered most of the sun.
In a solar eclipse, the moon’s shadow blots out the sunlight as it passes between the sun and the Earth. During totality that shadow blocks out nearly all sunlight except for a narrow band around the perimeter that creates a remarkable and unforgettable view. Solar eclipses are rare occurrences that track within small and varied regions of Earth’s surface. Within the eclipse’s band, many areas get a partial eclipse while totality only occurs within a smaller zone.
Millions of people on the U.S. continent witnessed and captured images of the eclipse going into and out of totality including the 2 minute long phase of full shadowed coverage.
In Honolulu, my friend Lisa Davidson and I awoke early and trekked to the Waialae Kahala Beach Park an hour before sunrise to secure a good viewing spot that I scoped out the day before. Anticipating the eclipse, which started near Hawaii, Lisa and I both photographed the changing light around us as night receded into the new day. The rising sun was going to be in the eclipse process. I had to be prepared for that.
I had three cameras with me including my Canon 600D SLR with a 300mm lens set up on a tripod, Fujifilm HS10 EVF with a wide to long built in zoom lens, and a Samsung smart phone that can also do pictures. Lisa had her trusty little Samsung that she used to catch the “feel” of the moments. We both had protective eclipse viewers that I got last year from Bishop Museum. I used the 58mm screw on sun filter for the cameras to get eclipse images.
We were set. We waited. Talked. Photographed. The sunrise was pretty, but the clouds were getting in the way. I was wondering if the clouds would pre-empt my eclipse view.
Sunrise in Honolulu was at 6:11 am. Moonrise was 2 minutes earlier at 6:09am. The eclipse began at 5:50am before the sun rose. Everything was in motion for a good eclipse except for the clouds.
It was not until 7:16 am that I caught my first fleeting glimpse of the sun poking through the clouds. I fired the Canon for a continuous burst of images as the clouds slowly broke and the sun revealed its new face for a few moments. And then the clouds rolled back in.
I got a few images but I wanted more. My wish came true as the clouds slowly blew away and the eclipsed sun appeared again as I fired more frames off with the camera. I got my 20% or probably a little less than that. It was better than nothing and certainly better than the 10% that I got during last year’s eclipse from Magic Island.
I snapped more photos in the next 15 minutes of the waning spectacle.
Lisa was thrilled as she was able to see the eclipse through my camera’s LCD screen and the protective filters that allowed us to view the show with our own eyes. She was very thankful that I shared these moments with her.
By 7:30 in the morning the eclipse was over. The sun was out, the day was bright and life would continue as it always does.
It turns out that this year’s solar eclipse is the last one to be visible in Hawaii until April 8, 2024, when another total eclipse will be viewable in the continental United States. The next total solar eclipse occurs in the southeastern Pacific Ocean and over the South American countries of Chile and Argentina on July 2, 2019.
Photos by Mel unless indicated.
Catching a live video stream while waiting for clouds to depart.
KHON TV’s McKenna Maduli reports on the eclipse from Waialae Kahala Beach park not too far away from where we were. There are 3 clips embedded in this video composite.
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Comments Off on Hawaii’s Glimpse at the Great American Solar Eclipse
Posted in Commentary, News, The Hawaii Files
Tagged commentary, Hawaii, news, Non-Health Related, Re-Blog, The Hawaii Files