.........YEAR 2008.........

January 26, 2008. Onizuka Science Day. This is the special day to commemorate Hawaii's Astronaut Ellison Onizuka with exhibits, demonstrations, and lectures, including a special presentation by current astronaut Barbara Morgan. Events took place at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. CSO contributed an exhibit table planned and prepared by Hiroko Shinnaga. Demonstrations consisted of the microwave dish bouncing balls and the vacuum chamber demonstrating that sound does not travel through a vaccum, but light does. Read more...

Riley Ceria at the table, Walter Steiger at the vacuum demonstration.

February 1-8, 2008, Journey Through the Universe week. See description of the program from January 2007, below. Participating from CSO this year, in addition to Hiroko Shinnaga and Walter Steiger, were Riley Ceria, Riuchard Chamberlin, and Steve Baca. Shinnaga visited Hilo Union and DeSilva schools using her microwave dish demonstration. Steiger visited the Waiakea Elementary and De Silva schools with his illustrated talk on atmospheric optics. Ceria visited Waiakea and Kalanianaole schools talking about robotics. Chamberlin visited Hilo High School with a talk about his research at the South Pole. For the first time, we decided to include an observatory technician, Steve Baca, to talk about opportunities for careers in astronomy other than a Ph.D. astronomer. That worked out very well and was thought to be worthwhile. Read more...

May 3, 2008: AstroDay 2008
AstroDay was again held at the Prince Kuhio Mall from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. This year's event surpassed all previous events in terms of variety of organizations represented and the space in the Mall that was occupied and the numbers of visitors! CSO had 3 tables along with the microwave dish and a large display.



Left: Staff artist, Diana Bisel, supervises the youngsters in constructing a comet wind-sock.
Right: Staff technician, Steve Baca, helps kids - and adults - understand how a parabolic mirror reflects incoming rays - or ping-pong balls - so that they converge at the focal point.