Institute for Astronomy to hold open house on Sunday, April 6

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Louise Good, (808) 956-9403
Media contact, Institute for Astronomy
Dr. Roy Gal, (808) 956-6235
Assistant Astronomer & Outreach Coordinator, Institute for Astronomy
Posted: Mar 25, 2014

Come to the Astronomy Open House on April 6.
Come to the Astronomy Open House on April 6.

Interested in learning about real planets with two suns, like the fictional planet Tatooine in the "Star Wars" movies? Then come to the UH Mānoa Institute for Astronomy’s annual Open House on Sunday, April 6, 2014, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at its Mānoa headquarters on 2680 Woodlawn Drive.

There will be activities, displays, and talks for people of all ages. For the keiki, there will be bottle-rocket launching, face painting, shows in the StarLab planetarium, and the opportunity to make a glider out of a foam plate, or to make a sundial, comet or crater.

Both children and adults will have the opportunity to “Ask an Astronomer." Visitors will also will be able to explore a 3-D virtual environment in the CAVE and a scale model of the solar system on the front lawn.

Talks will discuss the great astronomy being done in Hawaiʻi, as well as Hawaiians and astronomy, how science has changed the perception of light, space and time, and many other timely topics.

This year’s guest organizations will include the Bishop Museum, the Hawaiian Astronomical Society, and the UH Mānoa SUPER M (as in “mathematics”) Group. Also bringing interesting displays and activities are Gemini Observatory, Subaru Telescope, the Thirty Meter Telescope and ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai‘i, all coming over from the Big Island of Hawaiʻi.

In addition, the Pacific Aviation Museum will be bringing its P-40 flight simulator, and Mensa Hawaiʻi is bringing Mensa Academy, an interactive Wii game that challenges thinking skills. The UH Bookstore will have astronomy and other science books for sale.

Weather-permitting, there will be sunspot viewing in the IfA courtyard and remote nighttime observing on a telescope located on the other side of the world.

Admission and parking are free. Lunch will be available for purchase. For up-to-date information, visit www.ifa.hawaii.edu/open-house/.

Founded in 1967, the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa conducts research into galaxies, cosmology, stars, planets, and the sun. Its faculty and staff are also involved in astronomy education, deep space missions, and in the development and management of the observatories on Haleakala and Mauna Kea. The Institute operates facilities on the islands of Oʻahu, Maui, and Hawaiʻi.

For more information, visit: http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/press-releases/OH2014/