On February 15th, 2017, Keahi took the stand to explain the story of PUEO, his struggle to educate himself and his mission to help kids find a positive and successful future for themselves. He also explains how Hawaiians will benefit in the short term and long term by the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea. His powerful story explaining his reasons for supporting the telescope is a message that everyone should hear before they rush to judge the TMT project. Video is courtesy of Na Leo TV.... read more
A free youth event called “Sea to Sky” will be held this weekend. This event is designed to bring different aspects of our island together with the common purpose of rebuilding the voyaging canoe, Hōkūalaka’i. The Hōkūalaka’i will be used for teaching purposes on Hawaiʻi Island and beyond. Hōkūalakaʻi’s home is in the same location (Palekai) that the historic Hōkūleʻa departed from on its world wide voyage. This will be the first of many “Sea to Sky” events at Palekai in Hilo. It will be an all day event with something for everyone to enjoy. We have invited many members of the scientific field to have fun educational learning stations available for kids and all participants will be hosted with great food and activities. The focus of the monthly events are structured to: Unite community in helping to restore the voyaging canoe, Hōkūalaka’i. Promote indigenous knowledge in science programs Increase cultural relevance Create opportunities to pursue careers in science and culture education fields The schedule for the September 24th will be: 8:00-8:30am Informal meet, setup and discuss days activities and work planned for the canoe. 8:45-9:30am ‘awa ceremony and welcome 9:30-11:30am Work on Hōkūalakaʻi, Visit Learning Stations, and Site Beautification Project 11:30-12:30pm Lunch 1:00-4:30 Paddling, Sailing, Swimming (Ocean Activities) 4:30-5:00 Closing talk and cleanup We will have “Learning Stations” and a variety of organizations joining us each week. Come down to Palekai and join in the community effort to restore Hōkūalakaʻi and help our youth learn about the science and culture that is happening on the Big Island. If you would like to setup a booth to help educate... read more
PUEO and Gemini’s StarLab The first of sevearal events with Gemini took place last week when Alexis Ann Acohido and Janice Harvey from the Gemini Telescope came to the RISE building in Keaukaha and they brought the entire universe along with them for show and tell. Using a unique inflatable planetarium they quickly inflated their portable universe. Once it is fully inflated the inside becomes a giant projection screen where the planetarium show takes place. Gemini has a wide range of material for all different ages ranging from 8 to 18 years old. Some of what they cover includes: The planets in the Solar System and our place in the universe Patterns of daily celestial motions and orbiting bodies The sequence of Moon phases and the apparent changes in the Sunʻs path through the seasons The lives of stars and the history of constellations in the context of world culture Astronomy and its importance to Hawaiians for navigation across the Pacific Follow this link to learn more about their program. The best thing about this is you can learn how to operate this planetarium and borrow it, for free along with free training, and put on your own shows for kids and have a star party. The material is easy to use and covers a wide range of subjects. They all had a great time! ... read more
Everyone is welcome to join us for a kids event on Sept. 24 at Palekai (breakwater) or Radio Bay in Hilo! The location is on the little road to the left after the cruise ship port and Aloha Petroleum along Kalanianaole Ave when heading away from downtown Hilo. Let your friends and family know! We hope to see you there!... read more
Yes, the state should allow TMT on Mauna Kea By Richard Ha (Editioral Published by Star Advertiser) September 7, 2016 Our group, Perpetuating Unique Educational Opportunities (PUEO), is made up of highly respected members of the Hawaiian community. We represent folks who believe our children are as competent as any in the world. We are about keiki education. We are also about making sure our culture is not left behind as we move into the future. We can multitask. The Big Island has the lowest median family income, the highest rate of homelessness and the highest suicide rate. PUEO recognizes that education is the great equalizer. We believe through education, taking advantage of the resources around us and integrating our culture into what we learn, we can not only do better, we can lead the world. PUEO stepped up when we learned that Hokukea, the small University of Hawaii at Hilo teaching telescope, would go from Mauna Kea, the best viewing site in the world, down into Hilo, the rainiest city in the world. Why? We also felt we needed to support astronomy in general and the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) in particular. That is why PUEO entered the contested-case hearing supporting the TMT, which has a track record of doing the right thing. The president of TMT, Henry Yang, is a humble man of the people, someone you can do business with on a handshake. Our people came from the south. Though they had not seen the northern skies, they used their knowledge of the stars and launched their canoes. Today, on Mauna Kea, we are in these... read more
[source NAOJ] Light from a distant galaxy can be strongly bent by the gravitational influence of a foreground galaxy. That effect is called strong gravitational lensing. Normally a single galaxy is lensed at a time. The same foreground galaxy can – in theory – simultaneously lens multiple background galaxies. Although extremely rare, such a lens system offers a unique opportunity to probe the fundamental physics of galaxies and add to our understanding of cosmology. One such lens system has recently been discovered and the discovery was made not in an astronomer’s office, but in a classroom. It has been dubbed the Eye of Horus (Fig. 1), and this ancient eye in the sky will help us understand the history of the universe. Figure 1: Eye of Horus in pseudo color. Enlarged image to the right (field of view of 23 arcseconds x 19 arcseconds) show two arcs/rings with different colors. The inner arc has a reddish hue, while the outer arc has a blue tint. These arcs are lensed images of the two background galaxies. There are blobs in and around the arcs/rings, which are also the lensed images of those background galaxies. The yellow-ish object at the center is a massive galaxy at z = 0.79 (distance 7 billion light years), which bends the light from the two background galaxies. The wide field image in the background is here. Enlarged image of the Eye of Horus is here and the image with labels is here. (Credit: NAOJ) Classroom Research Pays Off Subaru Telescope organizes a school for undergraduate students each year. One such session was held... read more
[source] Gemini Observatory plays a key role in the latest harvest of over 100 confirmed exoplanets from NASA’s K2 mission, the repurposed Kepler spacecraft. Three instruments on the Gemini North telescope delivered precise images verifying many of the candidate stars as planetary system hosts. Researchers note that these systems could contain a considerable number of rocky, potentially earthlike exoplanets. The Gemini North telescope on Hawaii’s Maunakea helped verify many of the over 100 new worlds announced in the initial crop of discoveries from the NASA K2 mission, according to Ian Crossfield of the University of Arizona. Crossfield led the international team of scientists who announced the findings, which are published online in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. A preprint of the paper is available here. “Gemini North was instrumental because it delivered extremely high-resolution images of over 70 of the almost 200 potential planetary systems that K2 uncovered,” says Crossfield. ”In total we used three instruments, or cameras, on Gemini to complete our studies – so you could say that Gemini was instrumental in that way too!” Once K2’s data are analyzed to identify potential exoplanet candidates, many of the world’s most powerful telescopes, like Gemini, are set into motion. This is so astronomers can rule out other explanations that can produce the signature of a planet orbiting a star. “This is where the discovery happens,” says astronomer Christopher Davis of the US National Science Foundation, which funds over 70% of Gemini. “Once other possibilities are eliminated, like nearby background stars, the team can say with extreme certainty that we have a new exoplanet system.” One of the instruments... read more
[from HPR] Astronomers with the University of Hawai‘i are examining possible ice pockets on the dwarf planet Ceres which orbits Pluto. Pictures taken from NASA’s Dawn mission show frozen water may be trapped in craters on the planet’s poles–which sit in dark areas that don’t receive sunlight. Researchers say Ceres may have just enough gravity to hold the water on the surface. If temperatures in the crater stay below minus 243 degrees Fahrenheit the area becomes a “Cold Trap”, holding ice for billions of years. Scientists have previously discovered ice hiding in similar pockets on Mercury and Earth’s moon. Norbert Schorghofer is an associate professor with UH’s Institute for Astronomy. Schorghofer says his team will continue to run stereo imaging tests on the photos to see if water actually exists on the surface of Ceres.... read more
From UH News For a decade, a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Institute for Astronomy’s summer program has attracted middle school and high school students from across the state. It’s called Hawaiʻi Student/Teacher Astronomy Research or HI STAR. “This program introduces students from across the state of Hawaiʻi to the basic practices of science,” said Geoff Mathews, UH Mānoa astronomy instructor. “Science is about exploring, going out and discovering new things, adding to humanity’s understanding of the universe.” Over the past few years, HI STAR alumni have been awarded more than $400,000 in scholarships and awards at science fairs. The program, which recently marked its 10th year, is unique to the extent in which students design and direct their research projects. Pahoa High School student James Iaukea said, “We got to learn about star clusters and galaxies and basic things like that and now we’re moving into more field-based studies, like I’m working on my exoplanets right now.” UH Mānoa student mentor Marielle Dela Cruz, will be the first student to graduate from from the campus’ nascent astrophysics program in 2017. ”My (students’) project is globular clusters. They have the oldest stars in the universe,” she said. According to organizers, HI STAR alumni are not only college and research ready, they are also becoming future leaders in the science, engineering and technology fields that are so important to Hawaiʻi and the nation.... read more
About IMAGE: Rendering of the orbit of RR245 (orange line). Objects as bright or brighter than RR245 are labeled. The Minor Planet Center describes the object as the 18th largest in the Kuiper Belt. Credit: Alex Parker, OSSOS [source] An international team of astronomers including researchers from the University of British Columbia has discovered a new dwarf planet orbiting in the disk of small icy worlds beyond Neptune. The new object is about 700 km in diameter — roughly one-and-a-half times the size of Vancouver Island — and has one of the largest orbits for a dwarf planet. Designated 2015 RR245 by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center, it was found using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on Maunakea, Hawaii, as part of the ongoing Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS). “Finding a new dwarf planet beyond Neptune sheds light on the early phases of planet formation,” said Brett Gladman, the Canada Research Chair in planetary astronomy at UBC. “Since most of these icy worlds are incredibly small and faint, it’s exciting to find a bright one that is easier to study, and which is on an interesting orbit.” RR245 was first spotted in February 2016 by astronomer JJ Kavelaars of the National Research Council of Canada. The OSSOS project uses powerful computers to hunt the images, and Kavelaars was presented with a bright object moving at such a slow rate that it was clearly at least twice as far from Earth Neptune and 120 times further from the Sun than Earth. The exact size of RR245 is not yet exactly known, as its surface properties need further measurement. “It’s... read more
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