Astronomy

Join the Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority for a “Talk Story” event in Hilo on Sept. 24, to contribute to shaping the future of Hawaiʻi’s treasured landscapes through community feedback and dialogue.

“Futures in Space” — which opened July 28 at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington — features two launchpad pavers and an interlocking brick made of sintered Hawaiian basalt and developed by Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems.

Labor Day Weekend is upon us, Big Island, so get out and celebrate the long weekend — and extra time off work — by attending, participating in or watching one or more of the multitude of events happening around the Big Island. Check out this week’s top 10 things to do now!

Rare stellar blast discovery — made possible by spectral data captured by Keck Observatory at the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island — reveals a heavy-element core, challenging theories of how massive stars live and die.

The Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority was established by law in 2022 to develop a new mutual stewardship model for Hawaiʻi’s revered summit in which ecology, the environment, natural resources, cultural practices, education and science are in balance.

New research using Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array observations together with data from NASA Infrared Telescope Facility atop Mauna Kea show water in Halley-type comet 12P/Pons-Brooks matches that in Earth’s oceans, strengthening theory that comets helped make our planet habitable.

The newly identified object, dubbed 3I/ATLAS, is suspected to be a comet and should show increasing activity as it gets closer to the sun, but it will never get warm enough to be seen by the naked eye. And it poses no risk of hitting Earth.

University of Hawaiʻi’s 2.2-meter (88 inch) telescope on Maunakea was recognized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Milestone program for its role in shaping astronomical research worldwide.

It will be the third Mauna Kea observatory decommissioned under the university’s Maunakea Comprehensive Management Plan, following Caltech Submillimeter Observatory and University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo’s Hōkū Keʻa Observatory, both completed in 2024.

A team at the Institute for Astronomy uncovered rare events when massive stars at least three times the mass of the Sun are shredded by supermassive black holes. 

At age 48, UH Hilo student Raven Kromer will be interning at NASA to study the icy terrain of Jupiter’s moon Europa, hoping to find insights into the potential for life beyond Earth.

It’s a Memorial Day Weekend full of culture and remembrance on the Big Island. There’s a comedy show, guacamole contest and even a showing of the silent movie that started it all at the Palace Theater in downtown Hilo 100 years ago coming up this week, too. Check out the top 10 now!

Stars are not silent, and like musical instruments, stars resonate with natural frequencies that astronomers can “hear” with the right tools. Asteroseismology allows scientists to use these frequencies to probe the interiors of stars. 

More than 30 organizations will host demonstrations, games and activities that highlight astronomy, robotics and natural sciences.

Astronomers using W. M. Keck Observatory at Maunakea on Hawaiʻi Island have found compelling evidence of a dark matter-deficient dwarf galaxy, FCC 224. The discovery challenges the traditional cosmological paradigm, which assumes dark matter is a fundamental component in galaxy formation.

Tour participants learn about the scientific, cultural and environmental importance of the mauna and then actually visit the inside of one of the telescopes atop the summit.

Many of the events and activities around the Big Island during the next week will focus on tradition, talent and taddies. Check out this week’s top 10 things to do now!

Image of delicate structure of veiled NGC 2040 open cluster of young stars captured by Gemini South telescope, the other half of the International Gemini Observatory that includes Gemini North atop Mauna Kea on the Big Island.

The winter storm that blew through the state at the end of the week fortunately didn’t blow away or wash out any of the multitude of events happening around the island, some of which are going on right now!

Called the Prime Focus Spectrograph, it features about 2,400 prisms scattered across the extremely wide field of view available at the Subaru Telescope’s primary focus, allowing for simultaneous spectroscopic observation and dramatically enhancing its efficiency.