IfA Manoa Open House

At the Open House at IfA Manoa, visitors had the opportunity to view sunspots and Venus (left) and to make comets out of ice, dry ice, and dirt (right).

The IfA held its third annual Open House at its Manoa headquarters on October 6. Visitors viewed sunspots and Venus, made miniature comets and impact craters like those on the Moon, ground telescope mirrors, and launched bottle rockets. There were also a variety of research exhibits and tours of the Machine Shop and the instrumentation laboratories. IfA scientists and staff gave short public lectures on many subjects, including the telescopes on Mauna Kea, active galaxies, the danger from Earth-approaching asteroids, archeoastronomy in Hawaii, and dark matter. Members of the scientific staff also answered questions related to astronomy at the "Ask an Astronomer" table.  An estimated 450 people attended the Open House.