Current Events
Jul 18, 2016 | Events
Governor Ige met briefly with leaders of PUEO to explain their role in the community and the types of educational and cultural opportunities each member has been providing and how they would like to see programs expanded in the future. This includes programs that are not just astronomy related. Keahi Warfield, president of PUEO, expressed how important it was to have a range of scientific fields participating in the educational process. His desire is to offer programs spanning educational fields from the ocean to the mountaintops. It’s very important to have options for kids so they can pursue the activities they find interesting. Perhaps they’re more interested in hunting and Wildlife and Game Management might be what they prefer to study. We need more educational fields like Fisheries, Geology, Biology, as well as Astronomy, Math and Physics. These are the types of programs we want to build for the next generations. Governor Ige listened intently as each member discussed their background and their vision of how to move the people of Hawaii forward, away from homelessness, drugs and poverty through creating educational opportunities. In addition they stressed that longterm plans are needed to create new industries that would help prevent the “Brain Drain” of Hawaii’s youth where they leave for better education and jobs. The meeting was opened up to the astronomy community where multiple students and teachers spoke of the unique educational opportunities that led them to become interest in scientific fields. They also discussed how they see the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) as a key part of increasing Hawaii’s role in leading science and... read more
Jul 13, 2016 | Events
Keahi led our second educational trip up to Mauna Kea for PUEO kids was yesterday! Mahalo to Guenther Hasinger, Astronomer and UH Institute for Astronomy Director who helped guide the group visit to the top and NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility, W. M. Keck Observatory, and the 2.2m UH Telescope. Guenther also gave a presentation about astronomy, careers and history of telescopes at Hale Pohaku. Educational opportunities like these are priceless. Everyone had a lot of fun too while learning Maunakea’s role in leading the world’s scientific discoveries and how they can play a critical part in the... read more
Jul 5, 2016 | Events
On July 11, 2016 at 9:30am the Department of Transportation is going to hold a ceremony celebrating the official approval for the Hokualakai to be docked at Palekai. Members of PUEO have been working to restore the double hull voyaging canoe, Hokualakai, as a teaching vessel. We are excited to announce this event and hope you can join us in support down at the park. ... read more
Jun 29, 2016 | Events
MAHALO! We’ve had more donations come in than we expected and we ran out of t-shirts for the on-line orders! Thanks to Hawaii Island Contractors Association for giving the first monetary donation to PUEO. We have to apologize as we are trying to catchup to all the people who’ve pledged money or help. Just because you haven’t heard back from us yet doesn’t mean we aren’t extremely grateful. We are in the process of forming our thank you letters and our receipts for those that have donated and more t-shirts are at the shop on order right now. Those that ordered them hang in there! They are coming! In the meantime we are working on developing our educational programs and getting our message out for everyone to share. Expect to hear more on this in the upcoming weeks. Of course we are also working on our contribution to the TMT case that will take place in August and we wouldn’t even be here doing this if it wasn’t for the support of the very generous pro bono work from TORKILDSON, KATZ, MOORE, HETHERINGTON & HARRIS Attorneys At Law, A Law Corporation. We’re excited to move forward with Hawaii and we expect 2016 to be a great year thanks to everyone’s continued support! Every little bit... read more
Jun 24, 2016 | Events
By TOM CALLIS Hawaii Tribune-Herald Plans to remove Hoku Kea, the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s teaching telescope, from Mauna Kea are being delayed after a group of Native Hawaiians who support astronomy on the mountain and others urged officials to consider the impact to students. The university slated the tiny observatory for removal last year in order to meet Gov. David Ige’s decision to demolish three telescopes before the controversial Thirty Meter Telescope is completed. The move was part of Ige’s 10-point plan aimed at improving management of the mountain, the site of large protests against the TMT last year by the Native Hawaiian community. But members of Perpetuating Unique Educational Opportunities, a group of pro-TMT Hawaiians, and other individuals questioned the decision last month during an Office of Mauna Kea Management board meeting, citing the educational value of Hoku Kea for Hawaiians and other Hawaii Island residents if the broken 36-inch telescope is replaced as previously planned. In response, the board chose to defer approving the official notice of intent to decommission the observatory until it hears more public input and a report from a Governor’s Office representative. That effectively postpones decommissioning. “It’s like saying that our kids don’t deserve to have any kind of opportunities to access the technology that’s there,” said Patrick Kahawaiolaa, president of the Keaukaha Community Association and PUEO member, on Thursday. Reached by cellphone, UH-Hilo Chancellor Don Straney said the decision is up to the board. Hoku Kea is the only telescope owned by the Hilo campus. “I think if the board finds things it needs to discuss more, then that’s what... read more
News From The Mountain
Jun 12, 2016 | News
The Akamai Workforce Initiative, a local program dedicated to advancing Hawai‘i college students into science and technology careers, has accepted 30 students into its 2016 summer internship program. With lead funding from the Thirty Meter Telescope, the Akamai Internship Program provides community college students and undergraduates with summer projects at observatories and other high tech companies in Hawai‘i. All 30 students are from Hawai‘i or are enrolled at a University of Hawai‘i campus, and nearly half are of native Hawaiian ancestry. The students receive credit from UH Hilo and begin on Monday, June 13, 2016, with a preparatory course taught by Akamai instructors. They will then complete a seven-week project at various observatories and facilities on Hawai‘i Island and Maui. The Akamai Workforce Initiative is designed to build tomorrow’s high-tech workforce by providing support to local college students over a broad range of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Each student is matched with a mentor and is integrated as a member of the mentor’s group with daily guidance. Akamai mentors are prepared to provide an experience that will support their intern’s persistence in STEM, while they complete a real project valued by their host organization, through a unique workshop offered in May. The careful attention to mentoring, the preparatory course, and an ongoing communication course, are all important elements of the program and have been attributed to the program’s success. This year’s interns and their placements include: Maveric Abella Hnu Photonics, Maui Dutch Akana University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, Hawai‘i Island Daryl Albano Canada-France-Hawai‘i Telescope, Hawai‘i Island Jaren Ashcraft Institute for Astronomy, Maui Gregory Balinbin Integrity Applications... read more
Jun 11, 2016 | News
MAUNAKEA, Hawaii – Astronomers using the W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawaii have obtained the most precise measurement yet of how fast the universe is expanding at the present time, and it doesn’t agree with predictions based on other data and our current understanding of the physics of the cosmos. The discrepancy – the universe is now expanding 9 percent faster than expected — means either that measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation are wrong, or that some unknown physical phenomenon is speeding up the expansion of space, the astronomers say. The results, using data from Keck Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope, will appear in an upcoming issue of The Astrophysical Journal. “If you really believe our number – and we have shed blood, sweat and tears to get our measurement right and to accurately understand the uncertainties – then it leads to the conclusion that there is a problem with predictions based on measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation, the leftover glow from the Big Bang,” said Alex Filippenko, a UC Berkeley professor of astronomy and co-author of a paper announcing the discovery. Using the Keck-I 10-meter telescope in Hawaii, Filippenko’s group measured the chemical abundances of gases near the locations of Cepheid variable stars in the nearby galaxies hosting Type Ia supernovae. This allowed them to improve the accuracy of the derived distances of these galaxies, and thus to more accurately calibrate the peak luminosities of their Type Ia supernovae. “We’ve done the world’s best job of decreasing the uncertainty in the measured rate of universal expansion and of accurately assessing the size of this uncertainty,” said Filippenko, “yet we... read more
Jun 8, 2016 | News
On May 10, 2016 NASA held a press conference to announce officially the discovery of the a record number 1,284 confirmed extrasolar planets from Kepler’s primary mission. Among this record haul of exoplanets were also quite a few smaller worlds including some that were found to orbit inside the habitable zones (HZ) of their systems. The Keck Telescope on Mauna Kea played a vital role in sifting through the Kepler’s large list of possible planets to identify and confirm each one. You can read about all the science behind planet finding and the science behind identifying them... read more
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