Monday, February 26, 2007

Waikoloa and Supernova


This week we celebrated the 20th anniversary of Supernova 1987A's discovery. The supernova, in the Large Magellanic Cloud, was the closest observed since Kepler's supernova in 1604. More than one meeting was held to celebrate the event, including one at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. Never mind the conference, just look at that pool!

Observing a Supernova relatively close-up is always fascinating. One mystery involves a neutron star--one hasn't been found yet! Astronomers are not sure whethre something is blocking it or whether it has collapsed completely into a Black Hole. If the latter is true, maybe there was a Black Hole there all along.

For obvious reasons the resort attracts many conferences, like Protostars to Planets in 2005 and the Seismological Society of America April 11-13. The resort is huge, covering nearly 60 acres of former lava field on the Kohala Coast. It's not actually in Waikoloa Village, but they had to call it something. The grounds contain enclosures for many native birds, even Nene birds.

Guests can get around either on those little boats or on the sleek electric train. As we know, supernovae have become very important for cosmology. On that subject, there may be good news about publishing soon.

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10 Comments:

Blogger Kea said...

Wow! It's like conferences in Queensland, only much bigger and better. I'm glad you're having a good time.

1:02 PM  
Blogger CarlBrannen said...

Another Riofrio myster: Temperature of sun's poles anomalous.

Also see: Water missing from exoplanet atmosphere.

And a foreshadowing of your publishing something. We can hardly wait.

6:23 PM  
Blogger L. Riofrio said...

Kea, I love to be in Sydney when it is warm.

Thanx for the link, Carl. Maybe the sun's South pole is a "hot spot" too. The exoplanets, especially the "hot Jupiters," are best explainded if they formed around singularities.

6:39 PM  
Blogger Pandabonium said...

My daughter on Maui was proposed to in one of those boats. (she said yes and I have 2 granddaughters now).

12:43 AM  
Blogger nige said...

Nice swimming pool, wish I was somewhere tropical like that. (I can't understand why people settled in England in the first place, they must have been idiots.)

2:20 AM  
Blogger L. Riofrio said...

Welcome, panda. Your photos make one want to visit Fiji too. Nige, this shows how much the world's climate changes. The Vikings named a place Greenland because it was green.

6:57 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Louise, thanks for the tip-off about Waikaloa, I'll have to head over there this weekend as it's raining so much in Hilo at the moment I'm sure I am growing gills ;)

10:33 AM  
Blogger Rae Ann said...

Oh, how cool! The Hilton Waikoloa Village is where we stayed when we were on the Big Island. It's a gorgeous (and huge!) resort. We spent most of our time traveling around the Island though.

12:12 PM  
Blogger L. Riofrio said...

HI Sam and Rae Ann. Sam, I used to wake up early, take the Mele Bus leaving Hilo at 520 in the morning to reach Waikoloa. After stayinhg in Hilo, one yearns for the "dry side" of the island.

Rae Ann, I am sure the family had a wonderful time on the island. So many things to see!

6:43 PM  
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11:02 PM  

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