http://www.mkaoc.org Press releases from the Mauna Kea Astronomy Outreach Committee CGFeedMaker 1.0.17 on CMS Made Simple alane@curlypinky.com ( ) http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?ca=bf99c8de-06ab-49dd-bb7d-82b104a29e58&c=4fc458f0-4258-11e3-9b05-d4ae527547e4&ch=514ccdb0-4258-11e3-9bd2-d4ae527547e4 When Kealakehe Elementary School kindergarten teacher Candice Travalino approached the Office of Maunakea Management (OMKM) about coming to her school, an idea sparked and soon developed into a full afternoon of Maunakea science for students and their families. After securing the go-ahead from Principal Nancy Matsukawa, Travalino paired the afternoon event in partnership with the school's science fair. OMKM collaborated with the scientific community and together they created hands-on learning stations with activities for students and their families. Fri, 08 May 2015 15:39:59 -1000 https://www.mkaoc.org/press-room/14/Maunakea-Science-Featured-at-Inaugural-Kealakehe-Elementary-School-Science-Showcase Canada France Hawaii Telescope http://cfht.hawaii.edu/en/news/16CygAB/ A team of Brazilian and American astronomers used CFHT observations of the system 16 Cygni to discover evidence of how giant planets like Jupiter form. One of the main models to form giant planets is called “core accretion”. In this scenario, a rocky core forms first by aggregation of solid particles until it reaches a few Earth masses when it becomes massive enough to accrete a gaseous envelope. For the first time, astronomers have detected evidence of this rocky core, the first step in the formation of a giant planet like our own Jupiter. The astronomers used the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) to analyze the starlight of the binary stars 16 Cygni A and 16 Cygni B. The system is a perfect laboratory to study the formation of giant planets because the stars were born together and are therefore very similar, and both resemble the Sun. However, observations during the last decades show that only one of the two stars, 16 Cygni B, hosts a giant planet which is about 2.4 times as massive as Jupiter. By decomposing the light from the two stars into their basic components and looking at the difference between the two stars, the astronomers were able to detect signatures left from the planet formation process on 16 Cygni B. For additional details and figures, please see: http://cfht.hawaii.edu/en/news/16CygAB/ Thu, 17 Jul 2014 09:43:53 -1000 https://www.mkaoc.org/press-room/13/Fingerprinting-the-formation-of-giant-planets Canada France Hawaii Telescope http://cfht.hawaii.edu/en/news/MassPeaks/ A number of studies have shown that Dark Matter is the principal mass component of the Universe making up about 80% of the mass budget. The most direct technique to reveal the Dark Matter distribution is by using the gravitational lensing technique. Indeed, following Einstein's theory of Gravitation, we know that a mass concentration will deform locally the Space-Time and the observed shapes of distant galaxies seen through the such concentration will be deflected and distorted. By measuring the exact shapes of millions of these distant galaxies we can then map accurately the mass distribution in the Universe, and identify the mass peaks tracing mass concentration along their line of sight. Importantly, the number of mass peaks as a function of the mass peak significance encodes important information on the cosmological world model. In particular this distribution is sensitive to the nature of Gravitational force at large scales as well as the geometry of the Universe. Measuring mass peaks is thus one of the most attractive way to probe the relative importance and nature of Dark Matter and Dark Energy, measure the evolution the Universe and predict its fate. In a new publication of the Monthly Notice of Royal Astronomical Society, an international team, comprising researchers from Swiss, France, Brazil, Canada, and Germany present the first detailed analysis of the weak lensing peaks. This work is considered as a milestone, given the possible importance of the weak lensing peaks for cosmology. Because mass peaks are identified in two–dimensional dark matter maps directly, they can provide constraints that are free from potential selection effects and biases involved in identifying and measuring the masses of galaxy clusters. In fact a small fraction of the max peaks are just mass concentration excess along the line of sight, and not genuine massive clusters. To detect the weak lensing mass peaks, the research team used the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Stripe 82 Survey (CS82 in short), still one of the largest weak lensing survey yet. The Survey covers ~170 square degrees of the Stripe 82 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), an equatorial region of the South Galactic Cap that has been extensively studied by the SDSS project. With the precise shape measurement for more than four million faint distant galaxies, a dark matter mass map was generated. Huan Yuan Shan, the lead author of this publication explains that: "By studying the mass peaks in the map, we found that the abundance of mass peaks detected in CS82 is consistent with predictions from a ?CDM cosmological model. This result confirms that the dark matter distribution from weak lensing measurement can be used as a cosmological probe". For additional details and figures, please see http://cfht.hawaii.edu/en/news/MassPeaks/ Thu, 17 Jul 2014 09:42:11 -1000 https://www.mkaoc.org/press-room/12/Large-number-of-Dark-Matter-peaks-found-using-Gravitational-Lensing Canada France Hawaii Telescope http://www.caltech.edu/content/massive-galaxy-cluster-verifies-predictions-cosmological-theory Massive Galaxy Cluster Verifies Predictions of Cosmological Theory First Detection of the Kinetic SZ Effect in an Individual Galaxy Cluster By observing a high-speed component of a massive galaxy cluster, Caltech/JPL scientists and collaborators have detected for the first time in an individual object the kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect, a change in the cosmic microwave background caused by its interaction with massive moving objects. The galaxy cluster was observed by a team led by Sunil Golwala, professor of physics at Caltech and director of the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) in Hawaii. Mon, 16 Dec 2013 10:02:27 -1000 https://www.mkaoc.org/press-room/11/Massive-Galaxy-Cluster-Verifies-Predictions-of-Cosmological-Theory Caltech Submillimeter Observatory http://www.naoj.org/Topics/2013/04/23/index.html On Saturday, April 6, 2013, volunteers from Subaru Telescope joined other members of the MKAOC (Mauna Kea Astronomy Outreach Committee) group to march in the annual Merrie Monarch parade. This year's event culminated nearly a week of festivities marking the 50th anniversary of the Merrie Monarch Festival, a hula and cultural festival named in honor of King Kalakaua, the last reigning king of the Kingdom of Hawaii (1874-1891). Governor Neil Abercrombie as well as former governor John Waihee visited the group to offer their support for MKAOC's activities and participation in the parade. Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:34:06 -1000 https://www.mkaoc.org/press-room/9/A-Brilliant-Merrie-Monarch-Parade Subaru Telescope (NAOJ) http://www.subarutelescope.org/Topics/2012/10/03/index.html The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has chosen Subaru Telescope astronomer Dr. Olivier Guyon to receive a prestigious 2012 MacArthur Fellowship. He joins a diverse, elite group of 23 individuals nationwide selected for this annual honor. Awarded to "talented individuals in a variety of fields who have shown exceptional originality and dedication in their creative pursuits," the fellowships grant $500,000 to each recipient over a five-year period with no conditions placed on the use of the grant. The award recognizes exceptional merit over a broad range of work rather than pinpointing a particular achievement, and the fellowship reinforces the promise of future creative work. Dr. Guyon expressed some of the meaning of this honor for him: "The award is a huge statement about the trust other scientists have in my work. It motivates me to persevere in doing very good work and helping mankind in gaining knowledge. It is such an enormous honor to receive this fellowship, because it is given not only for what you have done but also for trust placed in your continued work." Wed, 17 Oct 2012 07:59:14 -1000 https://www.mkaoc.org/press-room/8/Subaru-Telescope-Astronomer-Olivier-Guyon-Receives-Prestigious-MacArthur-Fellowship Subaru Telescope (NAOJ) http://www.subarutelescope.org/Topics/2012/10/11/index.html A wedding of science and culture took place at `Imiloa Astronomy Center the night of September 28th. Subaru Telescope and `Imiloa teamed up to present a variation of Tsukimi, which literally means "moon-viewing" and refers to a Japanese celebration honoring the autumn full moon. Wed, 17 Oct 2012 07:55:02 -1000 https://www.mkaoc.org/press-room/7/Tsukimi-Event-Enlightens-the-Community-about-the-Moon Subaru Telescope (NAOJ) http://www.subarutelescope.org/Topics/2012/09/12/index.html he installation of Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) onto the Subaru Telescope took place on August 16-17, 2012. The availability of this extraordinary new instrument marks the beginning of a new era in observational astronomy and is a testament to the fruits of international collaboration. With its wide field of view and high-resolution imaging, HSC can conduct surveys that will provide fundamental data sets for cosmology-related research that investigates the origin and development of the Universe. Wed, 19 Sep 2012 08:17:21 -1000 https://www.mkaoc.org/press-room/6/Hyper-Suprime-Cam-Ushers-in-a-New-Era-of-Observational-Astronomy Subaru Telescope (NAOJ) http://outreach.jach.hawaii.edu/pressroom/2012-venus_transit/index.html The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, is one of the few telescopes in the world capable of directly observing the planet Venus as it transits across the face of the Sun, and it plans to take full advantage of this last opportunity for 115 years. Fri, 01 Jun 2012 11:18:56 -1000 https://www.mkaoc.org/press-room/5/quot-Once-in-a-Lifetime-Opportunity-quot-Science-Planned-on-the-JCMT-During-the-Transit-of-Venus Joint Astronomy Centre (James Clerk Maxwell and United Kingdom Infrared Telescopes) http://www.ras.org.uk/news-and-press/219-news-2012/2121-ultra-cool-companion-helps-reveal-giant-planets An international team of astronomers led by David Pinfield of the University of Hertfordshire using UKIRT has found a brown dwarf that is more than 99% hydrogen and helium. Thu, 17 May 2012 14:32:56 -1000 https://www.mkaoc.org/press-room/3/Ultra-cool-companion-helps-reveal-giant-planets Joint Astronomy Centre (James Clerk Maxwell and United Kingdom Infrared Telescopes) http://outreach.jach.hawaii.edu/pressroom/2012-jcmt_25th/index.html The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, is celebrating its 25th birthday. It first turned its dish to the heavens this week in 1987, and now, a quarter of a century later, the JCMT continues to lead the world in submillimetre astronomy. Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:33:59 -1000 https://www.mkaoc.org/press-room/2/The-JCMT-Celebrates-25-years-on-Top-of-the-World Joint Astronomy Centre (James Clerk Maxwell and United Kingdom Infrared Telescopes) http://www.mkooc.org/Coin2012/ The 2012 Mauna Kea Coin was designed by Serena Usuda, seventh grader at Waiakea Intermediate School as the grand prize winner. She connects Hawaiian culture and nature, with modern technology (telescopes) in her petroglyph-style artwork. Enjoy the world's first petroglyph telescopes! The 2012 bronze coin will be sold at Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station (VIS) First Light Book Store and its First Light E-Store soon. Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:18:00 -1000 https://www.mkaoc.org/press-room/4/2012-Mauna-Kea-Coin-Contest-Winner-Announced MKAOC