Playing in August at the Imaginarium

Although our posted August schedule at the Imaginarium includes two double features on Friday, August 5, at 7:00p.m. and 8:15p.m., we unfortunately must cancel the Friday line up. There will be no shows Friday August 5, at the Imaginarium. The rest of the shows posted for August will proceed as scheduled.

Krissie Kellogg, will host Stargazing August 10, at 7p.m. weaving together science and the classical Greek and Roman star lore.

Friday, August 20, 7:30p.m. features our music show - Pink Floyd's The Wall. Experience the classic 1979 rock album in a stunning HD digital interpretation of sight and sound, created specifically for full dome theaters. Great musical entertainment. 

We wind up the month on Saturday, August 27, with: Larry Cat in Space at 1:00p.m,This show targets grades K-3, and  is an imaginative story about an inquisitive cat who takes a trip to the Moon. At 2:15p.m. Cowboy Astronomer is a returning favorite that skillfully weaves a tapestry of star tales and Native American legends, combined with constellation identification, star-hopping and astronomy tidbits--all told from the unique viewpoint of a cowboy astronomer
 
Christmas Came Early?????. . . . . . .
according to scientists around the globe giving thanks to the images from the James Webb Space Telescope that were just revealed July 12. The James Webb telescope was launched Christmas Day 2021. It traveled one million miles beyond the Moon and has been orbiting at a point in space known as L2 (Lagrange point). Eighteen gold-plated hexagonal pieces of the telescope, which is as big as a tennis court had to be unfolded. Dare I say carefully unfolded since there were 344 points that if even one point failed, the telescope would have been reduced to space junk. EUREKA!

                     
Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI                        Image credit: Hubble.org

The Webb telescope complements the thirty plus years of the Hubble telescope in the sense that its light gathering capacity is seven times that of Hubble and will allow scientists to see further into the past. Webb will use infrared light, which cannot be perceived by the human eye to study cosmic history. Infrared light is basically heat, so it will detect radiation from distant objects as far back as the early days of the universe.
 
Scientists are using words like Transformative – Powerful – Emotional – Tear Worthy – Mind Blowing – Awe-inspiring for the images that have been and will be revealed.
 
Drum Roll Please  . . . . . . . .

Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI 


A UH discovery some 20 years ago is one of the first images captured by the Webb Space Telescope to be released to the world. 

SMACSJ0723 seen in this image is an exceptionally massive concentration of galaxies, first pinpointed by IfA researchers nearly 20 years ago. All the super faint, dark-red tiny dots, as well as many of the brighter, strangely shaped objects in this astounding image are extremely distant galaxies that no human eye has seen before. This is the very edge of the visible Universe, brought within the reach of JWST by the gravitational amplification of SMACSJ0723. IfA was delighted and honored to learn that one of their clusters was chosen to be among the very first objects to be observed with JWST.
  
 Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI
 
This landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” speckled with glittering stars is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Captured in infrared light by NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope, this image reveals for the first time previously invisible areas of star birth.Called the Cosmic Cliffs, Webb’s seemingly three-dimensional picture looks like craggy mountains on a moonlit evening. In reality, it is the edge of the giant, gaseous cavity within NGC 3324, and the tallest “peaks” in this image are about 7 light-years high. The cavernous area has been carved from the nebula by the intense ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from extremely massive, hot, young stars located in the center of the bubble, above the area shown in this image.

 Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI
 

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has revealed details of the Southern Ring planetary nebula that were previously hidden from astronomers. Planetary nebulae are the shells of gas and dust ejected from dying stars.Webb’s powerful infrared view brings this nebula’s second star into full view, along with exceptional structures created as the stars shape the gas and dust around them. New details like these, from the late stages of a star’s life, will help us better understand how stars evolve and transform their environments.

These images also reveal a cache of distant galaxies in the background. Most of the multi-colored points of light seen here are galaxies – not stars.


Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

In an enormous new image, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope reveals never-before-seen details of galaxy group “Stephan’s Quintet”.

Stephan’s Quintet, a visual grouping of five galaxies, is best known for being prominently featured in the holiday classic film, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Today, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope reveals Stephan’s Quintet in a new light. This enormous mosaic is Webb’s largest image to date, covering about one-fifth of the Moon’s diameter. It contains over 150 million pixels and is constructed from almost 1,000 separate image files. The information from Webb provides new insights into how galactic interactions may have driven galaxy evolution in the early universe.

More to see in our August Sky

• August 10, Moon 7:14a.m. closest to Earth
• August 10,  Perigean King Tides (2.65ft) 3:25p.m.
• August 11, Full Moon 3:35p.m
• August 11, Conjunction of Moon-Saturn (4.3 degrees apart) 7:45p.m.-5:30a.m.
• August 14, Conjunction of Moon and Jupiter (2.7 degrees apart) 9:45p.m.-5:30a.m.
• August 19, Conjunction of Moon and Mars (2 degrees apart) 12:15a.m.-5:30a.m.
• August 21, Mercury at highest altitude in evening sky (17 degrees) 7p.m.
• August 25, Conjunction of Moon and Venus ( 4.7 degrees apart) 515p.m.-5:45a.m.

Check out our Celestial Events calendar for more. http://aerospace.wcc.hawaii.edu/AstroCalendar/Celestial%20Events%20for%20current%20year.pdf
                      
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