Ke Ka o Makali‘i
Authors: ASE Tech Team
The direct translation means the “Bailer of Makali’i”. The lines are shaped as a canoe bailer which scoops Ka Hei-Hei o Na Keiki (Orion) and Makali’i (Pleiades) up into the night sky. In voyaging a bailer is used to scoop up water out of the hulls.
Etymology and History
The main stars of Ke Ka o Makali’i from North to South are Hokulei (Capella), Nanamua (Castor), Nanahope (Pollux), Puana (Procyon), and ‘A’a (Sirius). These stars connect together to create the bailer in the sky. Mintaka (δ Ori) is an important star in this line because it rises/sets directly east or west giving the navigator an easy pointer star for direction. Mirzam (β CMa next to ‘A’a (Sirius)) and Ke Ali’i Kona i Ka Lewa (Canopus) connect together to create a southern pointer. ‘Ekekeuehuehu (θ Aur, Mahasim) and ‘Ekekeu’ena’ena (β Aur, Menkalinan) connect to create a northern pointer. Different north/south pointers are found in the star lines and used heavily by navigators.[1]
Mythology
Weblinks
Reference
- ↑ Mau Piailug of Satawal in Stellarium; printed in appendix of Hoffmann and Wolfschmidt (eds.): Astronomy in Culture – Cultures of Astronomy. Featuring the Proceedings of the Splinter Meeting in the Annual Meeting of the German Astronomical Society, Sept. 14-16, 2021., Reihe: Nuncius Hamburgensis 57, tredition, Hamburg & OpenScienceTechnology Berlin (cBook)
