Starry Heavens Newsletter
May 2016
May may be the most exciting month of 2016 so far this year at the Hōkūlani Imaginarium; with a matinee show on Mother’s Day and a premiere interactive space voyage, both in addition to our regularly scheduled live Stargazing show.
Novel Way to Express Your Appreciation
Whether you’re celebrating mom, grandma, your mother-in-law, or a special female friend on Mother’s Day, attending a show at the Imaginarium is a novel way to expres
s your appreciation for that certain someone. On
Sunday, May 8 we offer a 2:00pm presentation of
Earth, Moon and Sun.
Coyote, an amusing character adapted from Native American oral traditions, who has a razor sharp wit, but is a bit confused about what he sees in the sky, guides the audience through an exploration of the
Earth, Moon and Sun. The fast-paced fun-filled show includes discussions of lunar phases, sunrises and sunsets, eclipses, space travel to our Moon and also examines other celestial puzzles. Native American stories are told throughout the show to help distinguish between myths and science.
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Second Wednesday Reminder
The Imaginarium’s monthly live Stargazing show, by veteran presenter/storyteller Krissie Kellogg, takes place the second Wednesday of each month at 7:00pm, this month on May 11. In her fifteen years of sharing knowledge of the night sky for our audiences Krissie’s garnered quite a loyal following. Join her routinely each month to stay informed about current events happening in the night sky as well as in space exploration!
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Join Our New Virtual Voyage
At 8:15pm on
Friday, May 13 the Hōkūlani Imaginarium enters new territory with the Hawaii premiere of the audience-interactive fulldome show
Voyages of the Starship Discovery. Choose your crew role
as an engineer, scientist or observer as
you journey across the Milky Way galaxy. By activating personalized control buttons at your seat you’ll travel to distant worlds to explore their cosmic mysteries and accomplish vital mission tasks. Your mission — to go where no human has gone before and explore our place in the universe. The 43-minute adventure is suggested for ages 7 and above. Reservations are highly recommended by calling 235-7433 between 8:30am and 3:30pm Monday through Friday.
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Sun At Its Zenith
Due to its geographic location in the tropics Hawaii is the only U.S. state that affords people twice a year an opportunity to experience a unique solar phenomenon known as “
Lahaina Noon.” This shadowless event occurs when the sun reaches its zenith (directly overhead) making shadows virtually disappear for vertical objects set at a 90-degree angle, such as flag poles, telephone poles, fences, people standing upright, etc.
The name
Lahaina Noon was selected for the occurrence in a contest sponsored by Bishop Museum in the 1990s; lā hainā (the former name for Lahaina, Hawaii) means “cruel sun” in Hawaiian; and the event always takes place around the high Noon hour. The ancient Hawaiian name for the event was “kau ka lā i ka lolo” which literally translates as "the sun rests on the brains."
During the month of May 2016 this rare shadowless event will take place on seven dates throughout the island chain.
18th Hilo, 12:17pm; Kailua-Kona 12:17pm
23rd Hāna, 12:21pm; Lāna‘i City, 12:25pm
24th Kahului, 12:23pm; Lāhaina, 12:24pm
25th Kaunakakai, 12:25pm
26th Honolulu, 12:28pm
27th Kāne‘ohe, 12:29pm
30th Līhue, 12:37pm
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From Beyond Our Solar System
Dozens of dust grains that have been sampled by NASA's
Cassini spacecraft around Saturn have been determined to be of interstellar space origins according to an article published recently in the journal of Science. Cassini has been orbiting the giant planet studying its rings, and moons since 2004 by sampling millions of ice-rich dust grains. It is suspected that the dust can be traced to an interstellar (the space between the stars) bubble of gas and dust that our solar system is traveling through. Read more about this “alien dust” discovery in an
announcement made by the California Institute of Technology/Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
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.
