L?hain? Noon is a tropical solar phenomenon when the Sun culminates at the zenith at solar noon, passing directly overhead (above the subsolar point). The term L?hain? Noon was coined by the Bishop Museum in Hawaii and is only used locally.
Video Lahaina Noon
Details
The subsolar point travels through the tropics. Hawaii is the only US state in the tropics and thus the only one to experience L?hain? Noon. The rest of the states recognize the summer solstice as the event when the sun's rays are closest to directly overhead.
Hawaii and other locations in the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn receive the sun's direct rays as the apparent path of the sun passes overhead before the summer solstice.
The L?hain? Noon can occur anywhere from 12:16 to 12:43 p.m. Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time. At that moment objects that stand straight up (flagpoles, telephone poles, etc.) cast no shadow. The most southerly points in Hawaii experience L?hain? Noon on earlier and later dates than the northern parts. For example, in 2001 Hilo on the Island of Hawai?i encountered the overhead sun around May 18 and July 24, Kahului, Maui on May 24 and July 18, Honolulu, Oahu on May 26 and July 15 and Lihue, Kauai on May 31 and July 11. Between each pair of dates, the sun is slightly to the north at noon.
Chosen in a contest sponsored by the Bishop Museum in the 1990s, L?hain? Noon was the selected appellation because l? hain? (the old name for L?hain?, Hawaii) means "cruel sun" in the Hawaiian language. The ancient Hawaiian name for the event was kau ka l? i ka lolo which translates as "the sun rests on the brains."
Maps Lahaina Noon
In popular culture
The event is covered by Hawaii media.
Activities are associated with the event. The phenomenon occurs in stories, including "L?hain? Noon" by Eric Paul Shaffer (Leaping Dog, 2005), which won the Ka Palapala Po'okela book award for Excellence in "Aloha from beyond Hawai'i".
References
Further reading
- Pruitt, B. (2002). Explore Kauai. Mutual Publishing. p. 17. ISBN 1-56647-560-0.
- Williams, Jack (May 17, 2005). "Sun beams directly down on Hawaii in May, July". USA Today.
External links
- Annual Astronomy Highlights link has current "Lahaina Noon" dates updated by the Bernice P. Bishop Museum
- Picture of "Lahaina Noon" by the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, note the street sign
- Picture of "Lahaina Noon" by the Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Source of article : Wikipedia
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