Aloha! Enjoy!

The Highlighted topic for this issue is the Solar System. You will find wonderful websites with many helpful resources for Teachers and Parents. We are grateful for your feedback and support of our venture. Feel free to send us an email.

Contents:

• CFHT Community Outreach
• CFHT First in Safety in Hawaii
• 8 Wonders of the Solar System
• Tallest Mountain to Deepest Ocean Trench
• Astronomy for Kids
• A Year on Earth
• Upcoming Astronomical Events

Recent Past Events

April 5-13, 2010: The CFHT executive director, Christian Veillet was invited by the National Astronomical Observatory of China (NAOC). During his stay in China he visited the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO).

Dr. Veillet's China Trip

May 1st, 2010: CFHT was represented at the AstroDay in Hilo at the Prince Kuhio Plaza from 10am-4pm. We had our telescope display. There was a wonderful constellations of the world display, how other areas of the planet earth view the constellations. Check out the website for more details and pictures from this years event AstroDay.

May 1st, 2010: CFHT had a booth at the Keiki Fest in Waimea held at the Parker Ranch Center, in downtown Waimea from 10am to 1pm. We had the sunspotter and some clear sky so you could see what activity there was on the Sun, and other activities. (Click on the images below to enlarge).

August 7th, 2010: CFHT held an event along the main street in Waimea, along with the W.M. Keck Observatory, the Solar System Walk which started at 10am and went until 2pm. Many people came and walked from Keck to CFHT, learning about the planets of our solar system.

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Upcoming Events

October 2th, 2010: CFHT will take part in the American Cancer Society Walk for Life being held in Anderson Arena in Waimea. The event begins at 6pm and will go until 6am on Sunday morning. We will have a team of walkers and will be selling many goodies at our booth so please stop by.

November 18th, 2010: CFHT staff will again participate in the Girls in Engineering, Math and Science (GEMS) program held on the UH, Hilo campus. We look forward to talking with the girls about Astronomy on the Big Island.

December 4th, 2010: CFHT will host its annual Christmas Star Party after the Christmas parade in Waimea. It will be held at the Waimea offices and on our front lawn with demos, and hopefully telescope viewing if the weather permits. We will have calendars and posters for sale and refreshments will be served.

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CFHT sent seven employees to a luncheon at the Governor's Biennial Pacific Rim Safety Health Conference. CFHT received the First Place Excellence in Safety Award in the Small Employer (Science/Research) category. We received a hand-crafted paddle with an engraved plaque (see the photo below, click on it to enlarge).

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Artist Ron Miller takes us on a journey to eight of the most breathtaking views that await explorers of our Solar System.

8 Wonders of the Solar System

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Here you can travel from the tallest mountains to the deepest part of the ocean showing the relative sizes of many objects. Did you know that in 1960, people actually visited the deepest ocean trench in the pacific?

Tallest Mountain to Deepest Ocean Trench

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Astronomy for children, students, and kids of all ages. KidsAstronomy.com part of the KidsKnowIt Network, is the absolutely free astronomy resource designed to teach children about the exciting workd of outer space. This site is packed with games, activities, fun facts, and resources.

Astronomy for Kids

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Check out this video of the earth's motion around the sun.

Year On Earth

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1. Eclipses - There will be a Total lunar eclipse on the evening of December 21st. It will be completely visible from Hawaii if the skies are clear. It will be starting at 7:29pm and going until 1:04am on the 22nd. If you stay up to watch this, you will see a bite out of the moon covered as it enters the earth's shadow at 8:32pm. At totality, the moon will look blood red in the earth's shadow.
2. Meteor Showers - We have the Perseid meteor shower peaking on the morning of August 12th from Midnight to dawn is the best time to observe this shower. The meteor shower predictions are for 90 meteors per hour. The moon will be a cresent in the evening sky so it will be dark after Midnight. This will be great for viewing this shower. The constellation Perseus is easily found to the NE. Watch for the Geminid Meteor shower peaking in the morning of December 14th at 1am. With 120 per hour predicted, this will be worth getting up early that morning. The moon will be just past first quarter and so will not interfere with this event and the constellation Gemini is one of the easiestto find. For all these meteor showers best viewing time is midnight to sunrise early morning. Meteors should be visible for 1-2 days either side of the peak also. For more about watching meteor showers, check out the site for The American Meteor Society.
3. Comets - There are several challenging objects to find in the sky so check out updates at the Sky Hound site: Comet Chasing. You will need binoculars or a small telescope to see many of these objects.
4. Planets - There will be many opportunities to see double- transits on Jupiter, on August 13th at 12:12am, on August 27th at 5:50am, and again on November 6th at 10:13pm. Mercury's greatest elongation west will be at 8am on the morning of September 19th. Its greatest elongation east will be on December 1st at 5am. Look for Venus and Mars to be close to the moon on the evening of August 13th. Venus and Mars will be 2 degrees apart the evening of August 23rd. Look for Venus to be close to the Moon on September 11th, and again on October 9th. Look for Mars close to the Moon on November 7th and again on the evening of December 6th. Saturn will be 8 degrees north of the Moon in the early morning hours of December 1st and again on the evening of December 28th. The Moon will be close to M45 the morning of August 31st and again on October 25th, and will close to M35 on September 3rd and again on September 30th.
5. Equinox- The autumnal equinox will occur at 5:09pm on September 22nd.
6. Solstice - The winter solstice will occur at 5:38p on December 21st.

All times listed above are HST unless otherwise indicated. The link below contains many calendars and includes a nice section on astronomical events. Check it out!

Calendars

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