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99-042 "In the House of the Sun"
1999, Acrylic on Illustration Board

On a warm fall night in 1965, a boy and his father on the Hawaiian island of Maui saw something remarkable looming in the predawn sky above that island's major promontory, Mt. Haleakala (the house of the sun, in the old language). The celestial visitor was Comet Ikeya-Seki, a large and bright spectacle that astonished my friend and sparked an interest in astronomy that is with him to this day; and when he approached me about re-creating such an important event, how could I refuse? While my friend was not sure of the exact date, my computer was - and I was able to reproduce the exact star patterns from October 29, 1965. With the help of my friend's father (who still lives on Maui), I was provided with photos of the setting to match up with my astronomical calculations. Thus, we see again the mighty gas streams arcing some 60 degrees across the constellations of Corvus and Crater, a wonderful spectacle above the cane fields and slumbering volcano. It must have been amazing, and I wish I had been there...although, now, I feel like I was.

Chris Butler


Copyright 1994-2003 by Chris Butler
More of Chris Butler's art can be viewed at Novagraphics Space Art.