Astronomy

A global contest to name a space rock orbiting Earth concluded Monday — and a student and teacher at Oʻahu's Castle High School played a key role in the deliberation. The Conversation spoke to specia education teacher Maya Sullivan and student Haliʻa Tom-Jardine about the experience.

The Conversation wanted to take a closer look at the recent removal of the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory from Maunakea. We spoke with Gregory Chun and Nahua Guilloz from the UH Hilo Center for Maunakea Stewardship.

The first telescope to be decommissioned from Maunakea, the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory, has been completely removed — and the site has been restored.

The National Science Foundation has until September to decide on advancing the Thirty Meter Telescope to the final design stage. The TMT is competing against a telescope project in Chile for limited NSF funding.

Solar winds, magnetic fields and coronal mass ejections — how hot are they? Such is the world of Shadia Habbal from the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy. She is en route to Arkansas for the best viewing of the total solar eclipse on April 8.

Funding for the Thirty Meter Telescope may be in jeopardy following a decision by the National Science Foundation board to place a $1.6 billion budget cap on giant telescope projects.

John De Fries, the former president and CEO of the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority, was chosen from a pool of nine candidates as the new executive director of the Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority. He will help guide a critical transition period as the authority takes over the management of Maunakea from the University of Hawaiʻi. HPR's Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi has more.

With our planet experiencing historically hot temperatures in recent years, the idea is becoming more and more plausible. Istvan Szapudi from the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy published an article last summer about his idea for a sun shield.

Caltech has already removed the Leighton Telescope out of its observatory and off the mountain. Work will resume in the spring, weather permitting.

Keck Observatory on Hawaiʻi Island recently named Rich Matsuda as its next director. The self-proclaimed local boy spoke with The Conversation's Russell Subiono about dispelling the science versus culture mindset and building relationships with the community.