Starry Heavens Newsletter
April 2016
This month’s activities at the Hōkūlani Imaginarium begins with participation in the
6th Annual Palikū Arts Festival on Saturday, April 2nd. A variety of family-friendly activities for all ages will take place free of charge in Palikū Theatre Plaza and Hale Pālanakila Art spaces from 10:00am to 4:00pm. There will be special prices/times for shows at the Imaginarium during the festival:
1:00pm -
Secrets of the Dragon (11 minutes) - $3 admission
1:30pm -
Secrets of the Dragon (11 minutes) - $3 admission
3:00pm –
Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon (43 minutes) - $5 admission – (
Not for children under the age of 8. Visual effects used in this sound/light show may cause some viewers to experience disorientation or nausea associated with motion sickness.)
Reservations will not be taken for these three special shows. Tickets will go on sale at the Box Office 30 minutes prior to each show on a first-come-first-served basis; we do not accept credit cards at the Imaginarium.
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Convenient Celestial Resource
When planning your sky watching time there’s a helpful resource at your fingertips that you may not be aware of on the Center for Aerospace Education (CAE) webpage. At the CAE webpage follow the link titled Sky Information for 2016, which leads to Prof. Joe Ciotti’s yearly compilation of notable celestial events. As exampled in the section below, events such as moon phases, meteor showers, conjunctions, transits, eclipses, Lāhaina Noon locations/times, and more are highlighted in the list.
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April Premiere
The second premiere show of the Spring 2016 season at the Imaginarium is
Ancient Skies, which opens Friday, April 8 at 7:00pm. Through the use of motion c

ontrolled time-lapse CGI, and interviews with some of the most respected archaeologists and astronomers of our generation, this show explores the history and legacy of the Neolithic civilization of Europe by examining the construction of monuments of that time and their possible connections to celestial cycles and events.
Ancient Skies is an example of the type of analytical process used in the emerging science of Archaeoastronomy. The 46-minute program is suggested for those in grade 6 and above.
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New Window On The Universe
In 1915 Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves; he theorized that when objects move through space they create these waves in spacetime around them. It seems that researchers at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) have observed this phenomenon and confirmed Einstein’s theory. Follow this link to a fascinating video explaining the researcher’s findings that open a new window on the Universe.

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.)
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, WCC faculty or staff with ID
CASH & CHECK ONLY. An ATM is located on campus behind the Imaginarium building, next to The Hub coffee shop.
Please arrive at the Imaginarium at least 30 minutes before showtime. Reserved tickets must be picked up at the Imaginarium box office
at least 15 minutes prior to start of program. Unclaimed tickets are released for sale to walk-in 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.