Contents:
- CFHT Outreach
- WHO is Flat Stanley?
- Astronaut Ellison Onizuka Day
- Into the World of Tomorrow
- Astronomy Day - Big Island Style
- CFHT and Hubble - It's a Heavenly Connection
- ESO's VLT Smashes the Record of the Farthest Known Galaxy
- Mars
- Mars
- Cornell: Athena Mars Exploration Rovers
- Maybe We are the Martians...
- SETI@Home Re-observations Sky Map
- Trades Program for Middle School Aged Girls
- Upcoming Astronomical Events
CFHT Outreach
WHO is Flat Stanley?
Hi, I am a grade 1 teacher at Chimney Hill Elementary in Surrey, B.C.
My class is very excited to be taking part in the Flat Stanley Project
(based on the book by Jeff Brown). In the book, Stanley is flattened by a
falling bulletin board. He discovers that being flat can be a benefit. He
can mail himself to visit his friend in California. We are hoping that Flat
Stanley's adventures will help us to discover some things about other places
that we didn't know before.
We are wondering if we could send Flat Stanley to you or someone else
at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Corporation, so that we can find out
more about Hawaii and telescopes. You could write in his journal, or just
send him back with a souvenir or photos of his trip.
Please let me know if this sounds like something you could help us
with.
Thanks for your help!
Helen Griffin
Flat Stanley
Liz Bryson, librarian, reads "Hina and the Sea of Stars" by Michael Nordenstrom
to Flat Stanley (left). Flat Stanley takes a ride in the dome crane cab at the summit
of Mauna Kea, Hawaii (right).
Click on the images for an enlargement.
Astronaut Ellison Onizuka Day
Remi Cabanac and MaryBeth Laychak represent CFHT well at the 4th annual
Astronaut Ellison Onizuka Day, held on January 24, 2004 at the
University of Hawaii-Hilo. This event is open to students grades 4-10
and teachers of any level.
Into the World of Tomorrow
Liz Bryson, Mary Beth Laychak and Nadine Manset participated in the
March/Science Conference for 7th grade girls
held on March 10th. at the University of Hawaii, Hilo. The title of
their workshop was 'Cosmic Wonders of Mauna Kea and the and the Women
Who Share
their Secrets'. The annual event, co-sponsored by the American
Association of University Women and the Girl Scout Council-Hawaii,
is for the purpose of increasing young women's interest in math, science
and technology; to further awareness of career opportunities
in these fileds; and to provide students with a forum to meet and form
personal contact with women working in math and science related professions.
[Note: For another program geared toward middle school women see: Rosie's
Girls Training Institute below.]
Astronomy Day - Big Island Style
Astro Day is an event held annually at thousands of locations worldwide
since 1973. Check your local paper for an Astro Day happening nearest to
you.
This year, Prince Kuhio Plaza in Hilo will be the setting for showcasing
astronomy
and space exhibits and educating the public about Mauna Kea's special
significance. Keep an eye on the website below for updates for this years
event.
Save the date: April 24, 2004
AstroDay
CFHT and Hubble - It's a Heavenly Connection
Another successful example of complementing
Hubble telescope data with another excellent
telescope: ours! We are mentioned at the bottom of the article.
Here's The Story.
ESO's VLT Smashes the Record of the Farthest Known Galaxy
Using previously obtained images taken at the Canada-France-Hawaii
Telescope (CFHT) on Mauna Kea and images from the Hubble Space
Telescope, it has then been verified that these galaxies are indeed
not seen in the optical. In this way, six candidate high redshift
galaxies were recognised whose light may have been emitted when the
Universe was less than 700 million years old.
Farthest Known Galaxy
Mars
This profile of Mars features facts, news, and photos.
Includes information about missions, Canada's role in Mars
exploration, the use of Canadian Arctic areas for space
research, and an annotated timeline of Mars missions from
the Soviet probes in the early 1960s to the present.
Provides links to related stories and resources. From the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
Mars
Cornell: Athena Mars Exploration Rovers
This Cornell website offers educators, students, and the public easily
understandable materials dealing with Mars exploration.
At the Kids link, students can discover fun, Martian activities, ask
scientists questions, learn about the Martian sundial project,
and more. Educators can find lots classroom supplementary materials to
excite their students about astronomy and the planet Mars.
The website provides general information about the two Mars rovers
Spirit and Opportunity along with news stories and a short summary
of the missions to Mars from 1992 to the present.
Have you seen the
PL Mars 24K Show Site yet? Pretty cool! You can even get computer wallpaper and
screensavers if you want to flaunt your space geekiness!
Maybe We are the Martians...
As Europe and the United States prepare to launch missions to Mars, BBC
News Online's Helen Briggs looks at our long-running fascination with
the idea of Martian life.
Maybe We are the Martians...
SETI@Home Re-observations Sky Map
Over the past few years, the SETI@Home project has
turned up 5 billion candidate signals in gaussian, triplet, or pulse
formats, any of which could be a sign of extraterrestrial intelligence.
Given current limited observational resources, however, the research
team can't follow up on every one. Last March, the SETI@Home
team more closely examined the apparent sources of
150 finely selected candidate signals with the giant Arecibo Observatory
radio dish. The candidate selection criteria included a strong radio
signal, a signal observed more than once in the same spot and frequency
range, the signal's proximity to a known star, and whether that star is
known to have planets. The data gathered are being analyzed now.
Meanwhile, SETI@Home has released a map of the
selected star systems. Could one of these star systems contain
intelligent life? Astrobiology Magazine has some good background.
SETI
Astrobiology
Trades Program for Middle School Aged Girls
Greetings -- I was hoping that you might be able to help us spread the word
about an exciting training institute taking place in Vermont this summer.
The Rosie's Girls Training Institute is a 4 day experimental retreat to
be held July 11-14, 2004 in Vermont. RGTI is intended to train teams of
individuals to pilot the Rosie's Girls Summer Program in their community.
Rosie's Girls Summer Program is a three-week summer trades day camp
designed to help middle school-aged girls develop a broader sense of
themselves and their capabilities, learn independence and self-reliance,
expand math and science skills through concrete applications, and consider
careers in nontraditional fields.
We would greatly appreciate any help you could provide in sharing this
information with your memebers and others in your community.
Rosie's Girls Training Institute: A Four-Day Experiential Retreat, July
11-14, 2004
For the second year, teams of individuals from organizations and/or
communities interested in running the Rosie's Girls Summer Program are
invited to apply to attend the Rosie's Girls Training Institute, held near
Burlington, Vermont, in July 2004. The Rosie's Girls Training Institute is
a four-day experiential training retreat intended to give its participants
the tools needed to pilot the Rosie's Girls Summer Program - a award-winning,
three-week girls' trades exploration day camp - in their communities in the
summer of 2005.
What is the Rosie's Girls Summer Program?
Rosie's Girls Summer Program is a three-week summer trades day camp designed
to help girls develop a broader sense of themselves and their capabilities,
learn independence and self-reliance, expand math and science skills through
concrete applications, and consider careers in nontraditional fields.
The camp features the following activities.
-
Hands-on training in carpentry that is structured around progressively more
challenging activities, including small-scale shop-based projects and larger
community-based service projects designed to meet identified community needs.
-
Special workshops that introduce participants to the tools, vocabulary,
methods, materials and safety techniques used in other trades areas such as
electrical wiring, welding, and bicycle and auto repair.
-
Physically challenging activities (such as ropes courses, rock climbing and
self-defense) designed to build self-confidence and group cohesion.
-
Arts activities that explore a variety of forms of self-expression
including dance, yoga, drumming, mask making, creative writing, improvisation,
and stand-up comedy.
-
Activities to help girls understand the subtle (and not-so subtle) messages
that women and girls receive about how they should act, what they should look
like, who they should please and what they can become - messages that can
limit girls' options, opportunities and attitudes.
The Rosie's Girls Summer Program was created through a collaboration between
Northern New England Tradeswomen, Inc. and Strong Foundations, Inc. and was
piloted in Vermont in 2000. Administrators from 6 other states have already
been trained to bring the program to their communities.
Rosie's Girls Training Institute
From the AASWomen Newsletter,
Liz Shayne,
Rosie's Girls Programs, Founding Director,
Strong Foundations, Inc
Burlington, VT
802-658-5229
Upcoming Astronomical Events
- Transit of Venus - On June 8th, an event which happens only
every 126 years will occur. Venus will pass in front of the sun. It
will happen again in 2012 so you have 2 chances to see this spectacular
event in your lifetime. The entire event will be widely visible from Europe,
Africa, and Asia. Japan, Indonesia, the Phillipines, and Australia will
witness the beginning of the transit but the Sun will set before the
event ends. Observers in western Africa, eastern North America, the
Caribbean, and most of south America will see the end of the event,
since the transit will already be in progress when the Sun rises.
For more information, check out the
NASA Eclipse Site which has times, a map of the event itself, as
well as the regions from which viewing will be best. Make plans to
travel now to a place where you can watch this wonderful event.
- Meteor Showers - Don't forget to watch the Lyrid meteor shower
on the mornings of April 21st & 22nd. Best viewing time is Midnight to
Sunrise. The peak occurs at 6pm on the 21st during a time when
we cannot see it. Predictions are 20 meteors per hour. Not quite as
spectacular as other meteor showers. It is best to bring along a sky
chart to identify the constellations in this case Lyra and then look
in that direction. See the August 2001 issue of Hoku in the archive
to learn more about watching meteor showers.
- Eclipses - There will be a partial solar eclipse during the
day of April 19th occuring at 3:21am HST. It is only visible from
southern Africa and parts of Antartica, bummer! There is also going to
be a total lunar eclipse on May 4th starting at 7:50am our time so we
again will not be able to see this event. It will be visible from
Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and western Asia. It will be seen
partially from South America, eastern Asia, and Australia (meaning it
will be rising or setting during the event). If you just happen to be
traveling to these places you might see the eclipse.
- Planets - On March 29th, both Venus and Mercury reach their
greatest elongation (distance from the sun). This is the best time to
look for Mercury. Look for a nice display in the evening sky on May
23rd. Just after sunset, Venus will be 1.5 degrees north of the moon
and Mars will be 2 degrees south of the moon. Again on May 21st in the
evening sky, Venus will be 0.3 degrees south of the moon. The largest
full moon of the year occurs on June 3rd, and consequently the tides
will be at their peak.
- Daylight Savings Time - Daylight savings time begins on April
4th, so most of the mainland will be springing forward 1 hour.
All times listed above are HST. The link below contains many calendars
and includes a nice section on astronomical events. Check it out!!
Calendars
We gratefully acknowledge the following online sources:
Yahoo's Search Engine, The Scout Report, Blue Web'N, and the Librarian's
Index to the Internet.
This page is compiled by Liz Bryson, CFHT Librarian
This page was designed by Lisa Wells, CFHT Observing Assistant
We appreciate your comments and questions.
This issue was late due to minor flooding in our Waimea offices.
Thank you for your patience.
