Starry Heavens Newsletter
November 2016
Our moon may be catching your attention on November 14 when it passes closer than normal to Earth while it's full; this will be the closest orbit o
f the full moon to us since January 1948. Because of the moon’s elliptical orbit, its average distance to Earth can vary from 222,000 miles (
when in perigee) up to 252,000 miles (
when in apogee); the November 14 pass however brings it to within 221,524 miles, so it will appear up to 14 percent larger. The fact that this close orbit occurs within one day of the moon being
full (
almost fully illuminated by direct sunlight and round) makes this a “
Supermoon”. So glance skyward at approximately 3:52 a.m. on the morning of November 14 and if the sky is clear you should be able to see something super, the moon won’t be any closer until November 25, 2034.
For more celestial events happening in November check out the “Sky Information for 2016” link on the Center for Aerospace Education
webpage.
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Popular Annual Show Returns
As we enter the holiday season the Imaginarium will begin offering our popular holiday themed show “
Season of Light” on Saturday, November 26 at 2:00 p.m. Season of Light is a family frie
ndly, visually rich show about the darkest and coldest time of year, winter. The show explains why we experience seasons and traces the origins of many of the world’s most enduring customs from Christmas trees, to the Hanukkah Menorah, to Santa, and the Star of Bethlehem. Additional dates and times for viewing Season of Light are: December 17 at 2:00 p.m., and December 23 at 7:00 p.m.
You can check out the full schedule of public planetarium shows on the Imaginarium’s
webpage.
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Citizen Scientists Assist In Astrophysics Discovery
Eight people with no formal training in astrophysics have recently helped NASA pinpoint a new location approximately 212 light years from our sun to search for planets outside of our solar system. Since NASA’s launch of the Disk Detective
website in January 2014 approximately 30,000 citizens have participated in classifying over 2 million stellar objects; news of this latest identification of a red dwarf star and its encircling large disk of gas and dust was published in
The Astrophysical Journal Letters. The warm circumstellar disk surrounding the dwarf star, the kind associated with young planetary systems, is located in the Carina Nebula; a location that should make it fairly easy to continue further investigations of the disk. You can participate in the Disc Detective program at this
link.
Reservations Suggested
Due to limited seating of 84 attendees in the Imaginarium, we recommend making reservations for our programs. Call (808) 235-7433 between 8:30am - 3:30pm, Monday - Friday. Reservation phone line is not available on weekends or holidays.
Our admission prices are:
- $7 General admission
- $6 WCC students, military, seniors (65 years or older), with ID
- $5 Children (ages 4-12 years)
- Free for children under 4 years of age (1 per paying adult), and WCC faculty or staff with university ID
CASH & CHECK ONLY. An ATM is located on campus behind the Imaginarium building, next to The Hub coffee shop.
Please pick up and pay for reserved tickets at the Imaginarium Box Office at least 15 minutes prior to showtime. Unclaimed tickets may be sold to waiting customers on a first come, first served basis.
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As always, we welcome your feedback or questions, feel free to phone (808) 235-7350 or email to wiss@hawaii.edu. If you would like information regarding our
Adopt-a-Show sponsorship program please
click here.
Larry Wiss
Manager, Hōkūlani Imaginarium
Windward Community College
Hale Imiloa 135A
Office (808) 235-7350
