Magnets In Motion!
I don’t like the looks of that putty attracting that magnet over there…
Quick! Grab it before the putty swallows the whole thing!
Magic? Nope, science. Can you figure out how it works? Click on Leave a Comment to answer.
Hint: The copper supports are connected to a battery inside.
Come see us next week when we’ll shed some serious light on science!
A great bargain if you are or become a member at any of the Celebrate Museums Month participating institutions during September!!
September is Special for Big Island
Museum Members
Hilo, Hawai‘i—This September marks the fourth year Hawai‘i Island institutions are collaborating to open their doors to other institutions’ members.
“Celebrating Museums Month,” is a month-long program to celebrate museums and to cross-promote these important local institutions. During the month, each will provide free admission to the members of other participating institutions when a current museum membership card is shown.
This month-long celebration of museums provides local residents with a low-cost opportunity to explore and experience the rich resources of Hawai‘i found in museums from tropical gardens to the night sky over Hawai‘i.
The thirteen institutions in both East and West Hawai‘i collectively represent the major informal education resources on the Big Island. “Celebrating Museums Month gives us the chance to showcase one another, to highlight the rich resources each offers…it’s a collaborative effort that has been well-received by our members and we’re delighted to see it continue,” said Ka‘iu Kimura, executive director of the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center. “In the true spirit of ‘ohana, our family of museums is collectively bringing forth the resources for learning and inspiration to all residents.”
Purchase of memberships help to support the nonprofit organizations and further their educational missions. The public is welcome to purchase membership at participating institutions and take advantage of this month-long program.
Museum members will have an opportunity to spend September exploring and discovering the wonders and treasures of museums they may not have yet experienced, or many not have visited in a long time. Current membership cards, and identification, will need to be presented at visiting museums for Museum Month benefits.
Contact the individual museums for more information. Below is a list of participating museums, the benefits, and their operating hours.
Amy H.B. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden – Free admission and 10% discount on all plant sales. Hours: Mon-Fri, 8:30 am to 5 pm Closed weekends, (808) 323-3318 – http://www.bishopmuseum.org/exhibits/greenwell/greenwell.html
Anna Ranch Heritage Center – Free admission. Hours: 10 am to 4 pm Tuesday thru Friday with tours of the Historic Home at 10 am and 1 pm. Call for additional tour times. (808) 885-4426 www.annaranch.org
Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Space Center – Free admission. Hours: open daily 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Space-themed exhibits and interactive displays especially for children. (808-329-3441) – www.hawaiimuseums.org/mc/ishawaii_astronaut.htm
East Hawai‘i Cultural Center – Free visual arts exhibitions, 5% discount on art sales, and 10% on gift case items. Hours: Mon – Sat, 10 am to 4 pm, call or check website for current shows and programs – (808) 961-5711, http://www.ehcc.org/
‘Imiloa Astronomy Center – Free admission. Hours: Tues – Sun, 9 am to 4 pm, Sky Garden Restaurant opens at 7 am to 4 pm with dinner Thursday through Sunday nights 5 pm to 8:30 p.m. (808) 969-9700. Check website for special events www.imiloahawaii.org.
Hawai‘i Gateway Energy Center (Friends of NELHA ) – Free admission. Hours: Mon, Tues, Wed, Thu – presentations 10-11:30 am. Tuesday presentations on energy in Hawai‘i. Call 808-329-8073, www.nelha.org/education/education.html (Does not include tour of aquaculture facility)
Hawai‘i Tropical Botanical Garden – Free admission. Hours: open daily 9 am to 5 pm (last entry into Garden at 4 pm). Call (808) 964-5233, www.hawaiigarden.com.
Kona Historical Society – Free admission. Also members may use coupons offering 2 for 1 to bring additional friends – Enjoy Kona Coffee Living History Farm Tours and Greenwell Store Museum & Gift Shop – Mon-Thurs, 10 am to 2 pm. (808) 323-3222 - http://www.konahistorical.org/
Laupahoehoe Train Museum – Free admission. Hours: Weekdays 9 am to 4:30 pm, weekends 10 am to 2 pm. Call for discounted tour rates for classes or large family tours, check website for special events, newly restored railroad rolling stock. (808) 962-6300, www.thetrainmuseum.com
Lyman Museum – Free admission + 10% off in Museum Gift Shop. Hours: Mon-Sat, 10 am to 4:30 pm. Mission House tour times 11 am & 2 pm, as well as tour the newly restored Mission House Annex at 1 pm & 3 pm. (808)-935-5021 – www.lymanmuseum.org
Pacific Tsunami Museum – Free admission, no discount in store. Hours: Mon-Sat, 9 am to 4 pm, 808-935-0926 - www.tsunami.org
The Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo & Gardens– No admission charge; museum members from participating museums will receive special gift at Zoo Gift Shop. Hours: Open Daily, 9 am to 4 pm – (808) 959-9233, www.hilozoo.com.
Volcano Arts Center– 10% gallery discount – Hours: Open Daily, 9 am to 5 pm – No admission required to VAC, but park admission fees apply. (808) 967-7565, http://www.volcanoartcenter.org/
So what’s out there Dr. Crowe?
Most are familiar with our Solar System’s major bodies. Asking our Astronomer Dr. Richard Crowe, University of Hawai`i at Hilo Professor, what do we know with in our solar system and an update on exoplanets….Hey maybe they will change the count tonight!
“Aloha kakou,
Here is the latest tally on Solar System satellites and the breakdown (by category). To date, there are now 490 planets orbiting around other stars (an increase of 44 since April 13), and 362 natural Solar System satellites.”
Cheers, Richard Crowe
Satellites in the Solar System (as of 8/28/2010)
Planets: 168
Earth 1
Mars 2
Jupiter 63
Saturn 62
Uranus 27
Neptune 13
Plutoids 6
Pluto 3
Eris 1
Haumea 2
Other TNOs 60 Trans-Neptunian Objects (Kuiper Belt)
Asteroids 128
Near-Earth 40 (34 singles, 3 doubles)
Mars-crossers 10 (10 singles)
Main belt 74 (66 singles, 4 doubles)
Trojans 4 ( 4 singles)
Total No. 362
It’s Shocking at `Imiloa!
The latest Science Rocks after-school program was on fire—literally! Luckily, it was a very small fire, and no animals or humans were harmed in the process. In this photo, we started a fire using nothing but a battery!
We take our fun very seriously. See the students hard at work building a circuit board? They are trying to make a propeller fly.
Surgeon General’s Warning: Science Rocks afterschool causes sparks of excitement, gravity-defying hair, and a strong urge to come back to `Imiloa every Wednesday afternoon for more. Please join us next Wednesday, September 1, 2010 for an afternoon of magnetic proportions!
Mars Hoax – August 27th
Aloha,
A while back I posted a bit of information regarding an email “Mars Hoax” that goes around in August. NASA Science News just did a great article on the history of this hoax. You can find it at http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/25aug_marshoax/
As mentioned before, Mars can NEVER look as big as the Full Moon from Earth!
Shawn Laatsch
AstroTalk With Josh Walawender
Come join Josh Walawender for a discussion on the Birth of Stars at `Imiloa Astronomy Center, Thursday August 26 at 4pm in the Moanahoku Hall. The talk is FREE to the public.
We think of the night sky as unchanging, the stars we see are nearly
identical to what our ancestors saw. When examined closely,
however, the sky is a dynamic place. Stars pulsate during their
lives, they are born and die. In this talk, we will explore the process
of star birth and see how astronomers at the University of Hawaii
are examining the changes that take place in stars while they still
reside in the stellar nurseries in which they are born. A new project
run by UH astronomers will reveal star birth in a new way: by
monitoring young stars nightly over many years, we will be able to
watch those stars grow and evolve.
For the `Imiloa calendar lisitng
Aloha,
This is the most current schedule for Hōkūleʻa, Hōkūalakaʻi, and Makaliʻi for sails from August 14-29. Note, all planned sails are subject to weather and changes to dates and destinations should be expected.
Kālepa
| Date | Leg | Canoes | Escort | NM | @6kts | ETD | ETA |
| 8/14 | Hilo-Kawaihae | Hōkūalakaʻi | Kālepakai | 94 | 16 hrs | 12 AM | 6 PM |
| 8/15 | Kawaihae-Kealakekua | Hōkulea-Hōkūalakaʻi | Kālepakai | 43 | 7 hrs | 6 AM | 1 PM |
| 8/20 | Kealakekua-Kawaihae | Hōkulea-Hōkūalakaʻi | Kālepakai | 43 | 7 hrs | 6 AM | 1 PM |
| 8/27 | Kawaihae-Lahaina | Hōkulea-Hōkūalakaʻi-Makaliʻi | Kālepakai-Kamahele | 70 | 12 hrs | 5 AM | 5 PM |
| 8/28 | Lahaina-Kaunakakai | Hōkulea-Hōkūalakaʻi-Makaliʻi | Kālepakai-Kamahele | 25 | 4 hrs | 12 PM | 4 PM |
| 8/29 | Kaunakakai-Kaneohe | Hōkulea-Hōkūalakaʻi-Makaliʻi | Kālepakai-Kamahele | 58 | 10 hrs | 4 AM | 2 PM |
Mars Email Hoax
For the last several years a Mars email hoax has been resurfacing every August. The hoax goes something like this….”This August Mars will be makings its closest approach in 65,000 years and will appear as large as the Full Moon in the night sky.”
This is a HOAX! Please do not forward it as this information is completely false!
Mars was at its best in 2010 in January. It can never appear as large as the Full Moon in our night sky. For it to do so it would have to move very close to the Earth and this would cause huge gravitational and tidal problems. This hoax stems from a very close approach of Mars back in August of 2003. At that time it was closer than in 65,000 years and was brighter than usual. Even at its brightest that year it was not nearly as bright as Venus or Jupiter appear in our sky.
If you have any questions about this, please feel free to contact me via the Imiloa blog.
Starting the school year with a Bang!! Science Rocks After School programs are bringing a new dimension to science class…FUN!
You will see science everywhere and how it can apply to our daily lives.
Enroll today!!
http://www.imiloahawaii.org/50/after-school
Check Science Rocks!
Journey in 3D through the Milky Way
`Imiloa returns the popular 3D Hitchhiker Guide to the Universe. this Thursday evening program shows off the 3D technology in the `Imiloa planetarium. If you haven’t yet seen this live presentation its is a must if your in Hilo Town! `Imiloa is the only 3D planetarium in the US at this point.
View our Pr below. If you catch a program let me know what you think.
The Milky Way in 3D
Take a 3D Journey through our Cosmic Address
Hilo, Hawai‘i – ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center brings back its popular Thursday evening program “A 3D Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe,” this time focusing on the Milky Way Galaxy: Exploring our Cosmic Address, for a six-week run starting August 5, 2010. The live planetarium program, hosted by Shawn Laatsch, ‘Imiloa planetarium manager, uses the 3D stereoscopic projection capability in the ‘Imiloa planetarium to “fly” participants out into space on a unique and engaging tour of our home galaxy, the Milky Way.
The program will be offered weekly, starting on August 5, on Thursday evenings at 7:00 p.m. through September 9.
Laatsch describes the evening program as: “Jumping off Earth and exploring the local neighborhood of our solar system, including planets and their moons, seeing our place amongst the stars, and finding our cosmic address in the Milky Way Galaxy.” Wearing the special 3D glasses, audience members will take a journey outward to visit other star systems with planets, fly through the Orion Nebula, explore open and globular clusters, and even peek into the center of our galaxy. Two new Milky Way datasets will be shared in this program.
“This will be a grand voyage through time and space utilizing new imagery from the Maunakea Observatories, highlighting their latest discoveries,” said Laatsch. This program promises to entertain and educate the audience with imagery that can be seen only in Hilo, at the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center’s planetarium.
Shawn Laatsch serves as an executive officer in the International Planetarium Society, the world’s largest organization of planetarium professionals and is actively involved in astronomy and science education outreach and education. During 2009 he led the project to create Two Small Pieces of Glass planetarium program for the International Year of Astronomy. That program was distributed to more than 500 planetaria around the globe and translated into 15 languages. In 2008 he was awarded the Service Award – IPS’s highest honor – for service to the planetarium field in promoting astronomy education around the globe. He has been an invited guest lecturer at the Eugidenes Planetarium in Athens Greece, Planetarium Hamburg in Germany, Argo School of Astronomy in Moscow, Russia, and at the Committee on Space Research meeting in Beijing, China.
Over the past 26 years he has been actively involved in planetarium program development and astronomy education in museum, university, and K-12 settings. He is a NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador and has taught astronomy at the University of Louisville, East Carolina University, and Pitt Community College. He has a passion for cultural and historical astronomy.
The ‘Imiloa Bank of Hawai‘i Museum Store will be open during these evening shows, as will the Sky Garden Restaurant. The exhibit hall will not be open to the public.
The “3D Hitchhikers Guide to the Milky Way Galaxy” live planetarium program will be presented in ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center’s 120-seat planetarium at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $8 for members and $10 for non-members. Pre-purchase tickets available at the ‘Imiloa front desk or by phone, Visa and MasterCard accepted, call (808) 969-9704.
Opened in 2006, ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center celebrates both Hawaiian culture and Maunakea astronomy. Through its exhibits and program, ‘Imiloa strives to share inspiring examples of science and culture together advancing knowledge, understanding and opportunity. The Center is a part of the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo.
‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai‘i is located at 600 ‘Imiloa Place in Hilo, off Komohana and Nowelo Streets at the UH-Hilo Science and Technology Park. For more information, go to www.imiloahawaii.org, or call (808) 969-9700.
