Kaneohe  

 Sundial: 543
State/Province:  Hawaii Country:  USA
Dial Type:  Armillary Sphere Condition:  Excellent
  Latitude and Longitude: 21° 24.573' N  157° 48.862' W
Location:
  • Windward Community College
    Hokulani Imaginarium
    45-720 Keaahala Road
    Kaneohe
 
Description:
  • A 32-inch diameter bronze armillary dial with extensive Polynesian-themed motif. An integral plaque provides corrections for EOT and longitude within HST. The armillary includes ten bronze rings: horizon; solstitial colure (meridian); equinoctial (equator); Tropic of Cancer; Tropic of Capricorn; Arctic circle; Antarctic circle; "prime vertical circle" perpendicular to the meridian circle and horizon that spans from east to zenith to west; equinoctial colure perpendicular to meridian circle and equator passing through the north and south poles; and an "upright ring" inscribed with Zodiacal signs between the prime vertical and equator.

    Named "Ke Ao o Ka La" -- Hawaiian for The Realm of the Sun -- this sundial is bedecked with a Polynesian motif. The circular base, which is inscribed with the directions of the Polynesian compass as conceived by master navigator Nainoa Thompson, includes a central plaque graphically illustrating the Equation of Time that corrects for the seasonal difference between apparent solar time and Hawaiian Standard Time.

    A Polynesian double-hull voyaging canoe is mounted near the sundial's apex, its navigator employing the ancient way finding skills of sighting the Sun, stars and birds. A long-winged, fork-tailed frigate bird known as the iwa is flying at the north end of the gnomon rod casting the shadow telling time. Based on way finding lore, the iwa guides the ancestral canoe to Hawaii.

    At the south end of the gnomon rod is a silhouette of Maui snaring the Sun. This legendary feat, which poetically explains why summer daylight is longer than winter daylight, is told by a short poem written around the horizon ring of the sundial.

    The dial is mounted atop a bronze plinth with 6-inch diameter inscribed bronze base. The dial is placed in the lawn northeast of the Hokulani Imaginarium at Windward Community College.
 
General Information:Inscription:
  • Owner: Windward Community College
  • Maui snared ka la the sun to slow its daily passage.
    For days they fought, till compromise was sought.
    Now summer days are long, while winter sun still dashes.
  • Designer: Joe Ciotti, Director of Windward Community College's Center for Aerospace Educationn
  • Builder: Brad Dillon, Charlestown Sundials Workshop, Ladock, England
  • Construction Date: Installed December 27, 2014
 
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Last Revised: 5/8/2015 10:03:0