Catch up with SPAM Every Wednesday! In his 15 years with the IfA, Paul played a key role in our education and public outreach efforts, and advocated tirelessly for astronomy in Hawaiʻi. Now, 50 years later, the observatory continues to modernize and pave the way for others. Ann Merchant Boesgaard, Professor of Astronomy, Emerita at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy (IfA), has been awarded the 2019 Henry Norris Russell Lectureship by the American Astronomical Society (AAS). The award will help establish a scientific foundation for detecting the signatures of life on other worlds. Large reflecting mirrors lie at the heart of the world's most powerful telescopes that observe distant galaxies, stars and planets. University of Hawaiʻi astronomer Shadia Rifai Habbal travels the globe to capture total solar eclipses — when the Sun, Moon and Earth align, a phenomenon that has captivated humans for centuries. No other astronomy program has access to such a variety of telescopes and instruments. The additional observatories will not only spot asteroids that could harm people, but also detect comets, supernovae and other benign celestial objects. There are public events scheduled, however, including an evening talk on August 11 by Günther Hasinger, director of the Institute for Astronomy at UH Mānoa, whose book, Astronomy’s Limitless Journey, will be published by UHP in October. Images captured with the Gemini North telescope on Maunakea help reveal how the planet's massive storms form and confirm dark spots in its famous Great Red Spot are gaps not a variation in cloud color. Using thousands of hours of observing time, they will investigate the neighborhoods of young stars where planets are thought to be forming. UH Mānoa astronomer finds the sun's size remains constant University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. For answers to these and other astronomy-related questions, head to the annual UH Mānoa Institute for Astronomy Open House on Sunday, April 29 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at its Mānoa headquarters located at 2680 Woodlawn Drive. The observations were published Thursday in The Astrophysical Journal. The interstellar object ʻOumuamua was discovered back on October 19, 2017, but the puzzle of its true nature has taken months to unravel, and may never be fully solved. Now, a team of researchers at the University of HawaiÊ»i at MÄnoa have made a novel predictionâthe dark energy responsible for this accelerating growth comes from a vast sea of compact objects spread throughout the voids between galaxies. Astronomers have known for two decades that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, but the physics of this expansion remains a mystery. The team, led in part by IfA Astronomer Ben Shappee, found a mysterious signature in the light from the explosion's first hour. IfA astronomer Richard Wainscoat believes onlookers witnessed the reentry of a spent rocket booster used to launch Venezualan satellite, Venesat-1, back in 2008. Undergraduate students who are considering a career in science have the opportunity to apply online for the summer undergraduate research program with University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy (IfA).Students will work with IfA astronomers who conduct cutting-edge research in a wide range of astrophysical disciplines and in the development of new telescopes, instruments and … Working on their own time, IfA's Lou Robertson, Bill Unruh, and Jessica Young utilized our machine shop to produce precision parts for Hawaiʻi's home-grown Kahanu ventilator production. The IfA has close links with the UH Mānoa Department of Physics and Astronomy through the astronomy graduate program, which has about 40 students working for their MS and PhD degrees. Support our goals by joining the Friends of the Institute for Astronomy, Friends of the IfA on Klaus D. Sattler currently works at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. IfA's Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) is featured in today's United Nations News, as "Earth's last Defence" against asteroids. The discovery was made by Carnegie Observaties' Scott S. Sheppard, the University of Hawaiiʻs David Tholen, and Northern Arizona University's Chad Trujillo. New evidence shows the first-ever pictures capturing the birth of a pair of planets orbiting the star PDS 70 are in fact authentic. University of Hawaiʻi scientists are leading one of the newly announced Key Projects on a worldwide network of telescopes called the Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) global telescope network. Huber and his team are planning to create the largest 3D map ever constructed of stars in the outer regions of the Milky Way, with a new grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The University of Hawaiʻi's 88-inch telescope is celebrating its Golden Anniversary on June 26th. Sunday, January 5th, 7-9PM: Stargazing at Ala Moana Beach Park (Map) A team of researchers recently released some of the sharpest images of Jupiter ever taken from the ground. A new study by IfA graduate student Benjamin Boe used total solar eclipse observations to measure the shape of the coronal magnetic field with higher spatial resolution and over a larger area than ever before. The team's findings support the theory that galaxy mergers explain how some supermassive black holes become so monstrously large. For the past decade, an international team of astronomers, led in part by Brent Tully at the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy, has been mapping the distribution of galaxies around the Milky Way. Contact: Dr. Brent Tully, (808) 956-8606 Dr. Gareth Wynn-Williams, (808) 956-8807 Institute for Astronomy. Paul was the first Native Hawaiian with a doctorate in astrophysics. These objects initially appear to be asteroids, and later develop activity, such as tails, that are typical of comets. The department has an extensive laboratory and classroom building, Watanabe Hall. A University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Institute for Astronomy (IfA) graduate student received a three-year NASA fellowship that sponsors rising STEM scientists who will support future NASA discoveries. The 235th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society is at the Hawaii Convention Center Jan. 4th-8th. Thousands were mesmerized by a mysterious flurry of lights that appeared to float above Hawaiʻi's evening sky on Saturday, October 24. It is the first known solar system object that has been detected at a distance that is more than 100 times farther than Earth is from the Sun. Eight years ago, researchers at the IfA predicted that there must be a population of small, natural 'minimoons' that temporarily orbit Earth. A collaboration between the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) radio telescope in Europe and two telescopes on the summit of Maunakea, the Gemini Observatory and the NASA InfraRed Telescope Facility (IRTF), has led to the first direct discovery of a cold brown dwarf from its radio emission. IfA astronomers applied novel computational tools to the catalog, to decipher which of the 3 billion objects are stars, galaxies or quasars. However, astronomers at the IfA, using the W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, have discovered a rocky planet with a different kind of view. Now, a team of researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa have made a novel prediction - the dark energy responsible for this accelerating growth comes from a vast sea of compact objects spread throughout the voids between galaxies. The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is proceeding in the coming months with the recruitment of four executive-level positions: head of Enrollment Management, directors of the Institute for Astronomy (IfA) and Hawaiʻi Institute for Marine Biology (HIMB), and dean of the School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene (SONDH).. Classified by the Carnegie Foundation as having “very high research activity,” UH Mānoa is known for its pioneering research in such fields as oceanography, astronomy, Pacific Islands and Asian area studies, linguistics, cancer research, and genetics. The University of Hawaiʻi's Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) is now behind the discovery of the first known Jupiter Trojan asteroid to have sprouted a comet-like tail. 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