Upcoming Events

Learn about the continuing saga of the New Horizons spacecraft and its New Year’s Eve flyby of Ultima Thule, an object 4 billion miles from the sun, during this week’s Maunakea Skies talk series presentation at ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center.

Find out why the flyby was so exciting to astronomers and the public and how it happened in spite of the federal government shutdown.

The presentation is slated for 7 p.m. Friday (Jan. 18) at the astronomy center located at 600 ‘Imiloa Place in Hilo.

General admission is $10 for non-members and $8 for members. Tickets can be pre-purchased at ‘Imiloa’s front desk or by calling 932-8901.

New Horizons is an interplanetary robotic space probe and is part of NASA’s New Frontiers program. Its primary mission was to fill in the gap of the highly successful Voyager and Pioneer missions by visiting the one celestial object in our solar system missed: Pluto.

Launched on Jan. 19, 2006, Pluto was still classified as a planet. It was demoted to a dwarf planet in August 2006 after the discovery of a more massive body, Eris.

The region of space beyond Neptune is thought to contain more than 35,000 similar, small icy bodies. It’s called the Kuiper Belt, in honor of Gerald P Kuiper (who incidentally had an early role promoting Maunakea as a site for observational astronomy), and it is home to three officially recognized dwarf planets: Pluto, Haumea and Makemake.

On July 14, 2015, New Horizons performed a flyby of Pluto and its five moons. After surviving its close 7,800-mile encounter through the Pluto system at nearly 31,000 mph, astronomers searched for other targets that would be within the narrow range of New Horizons’ fuel budget and transmitter power reserve.

Ultima Thule, or 2014 MU69, was discovered by the Hubble Telescope. A successful flyby occurred just at the beginning of this month, and data is still being transmitted and received.

The speaker for this week’s Maunakea Skies talk is John Hamilton, an affiliate faculty member of the Department of Physics and Astronomy who just retired from his full-time teaching position at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. He is the principal investigator for the Mars exploration simulation NASA grant, BASALT (Biologic Analog Science Associated with Lava Terrains), and works on another NASA grant, SUBSEA (Systematic Underwater Biogeochemical Science and Exploration Analog), which explores similarities between Lo‘ihi and the geysers discovered on Saturn’s moon Enceladus.

Hamilton also was directly responsible for the logistics and execution for two NASA In-Situ Resource Utilization field tests operated by the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems at UH-Hilo.

He has received three NASA Group Achievement Awards, along with several NASA Certificates of Appreciation, among other accolades and continuing projects.

For more information, visit www.ImiloaHawaii.org or call 932-8901.

Because of the lapse in appropriations caused by the partial shutdown of the federal government, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists are unable to present public lectures as planned during Volcano Awareness Month.

Please note the following changes:

• An After Dark in the Park presentation Jan. 15 with Matt Patrick at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and Ingrid Johanson’s talk at Hawaii Preparatory Academy in Waimea were canceled.

• Frank Trusdell’s talk at Kealakehe High School in Kona originally scheduled for today is canceled.

• The After Dark in the Park presentation slated for Jan. 22 is pending. A decision will be made Friday regarding this presentation. Be sure to check the HVO website for additional information.

Talks by University of Hawaii’s Rick Hazlett on Jan. 28 and 29 and Ryan Peroy on Jan. 31 will go on as scheduled.

The original schedule of presentations and related information can be found at https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vsc/file_mngr/file-200/Talks_2019%20VAM.pdf.

HVO apologizes for any inconvenience.

Hilo High School Foundation Distinguished Alumni Awards will be awarded by foundation president Barry Taniguchi and vice president Allan Ikawa during the organization’s ninth annual Recognition Dinner at 5:30 p.m. Friday, March 1, at Sangha Hall.

The recipients this year are Pualani Kanaka‘ole Kanahele, Nalani Kanaka‘ole and Mark Yamanaka.

Kanahele, PhD, a member of Hilo High School class of 1955 and kumu hula of Halau o Kekuhi, was born and raised in Keaukaha. She is widely recognized throughout the state as a scholar, educator and practitioner of Hawaiian culture. She is an accomplished writer, musician, stage and film producer, dedicated community leader and renowned kumu hula. She also is a longtime educator at Hawaii Community College.

Kanaka‘ole, a member of Hilo High class of 1964 and kumu hula of Halau o Kekuhi, also was born and raised in Keaukaha. She is a noted scholar, educator and hula choreographer, as well as a recognized art and cultural designer at Sig Zane Designs in Hilo.

Yamanaka, a member of Hilo High class of 1998, is an award-winning musician and singer. His first album, “Lei Puakenikeni,” was nominated for 10 Na Hoku Hanohano awards in 2011. He took home five — including Album of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year and Most Promising Artist of the year. Yamanaka’s musical calling began when he was 13 at Hilo Intermediate School. He learned how to play guitar while he was at Hilo High. He since has become a famous performer and singer of Hawaiian music. His second album, “Lei Maile,” won five Hoku awards in 2014. He regularly performs internationally and is recognized as a true musical treasure of Hilo.

Tickets to the annual event are $50 and include a special dinner catered by Don’s Grill. Special tables for group sponsors are available: Platinum, $1,500; Blue, $1,000; Gold, $750; and Viking, $500. The event is a great time for alums to put together a table with classmates while helping Hilo High and the foundation.

The Hilo High School Foundation is a tax-exempt foundation dedicated to enhancing the educational opportunities for students at Hilo High. For sponsors and purchasing tables, contact Art Taniguchi at 987-0287. For individual or small group ticket information, contact foundation secretary Newton Chu at 961-0406.

Anyone can paint beautiful watercolors — even you.

Artist Nancy DeLucrezia will offer the “Wonderful World of Wine & Watercolor” workshop from 4-7 p.m. Jan. 22 at Volcano Art Center’s Ni‘aulani Campus in Volcano Village.

DeLucrezia will show students how to transfer a photo onto watercolor paper and introduce them to all the basic techniques needed to create a lovely painting of their pictures. Techniques covered will include basic palette setup, color theory and mixing, masking, wet in wet, texturizing and how to create depth, highlights and shadows.

During the class, participants will enjoy a sampling of several wines from Grapes – A Wine Store in Hilo.

Cost for the workshop is $35, or $30 for VAC members, plus a $17 supply fee. A still life photo will be provided for students to paint.

Space is limited and pre-registration is required. To register, call 967-8222 or visit www.volcanoartcenter.org.

DeLucrezia majored in art at the State University of New York as a photographer and printmaker and has painted with watercolors for more than 25 years. She has curated a Japanese art gallery in New York City, designed public relations campaigns for several arts organizations and developed a series of drawing and painting classes for children, as well as an art therapy curriculum for adults.

Before moving to the Big Island, she was a member of the Santa Barbara Watercolor Society and Working Artists Ventura, where she produced and participated in numerous art and theatrical events. She also served as director of art programs for Turning Point Foundation and taught watercolor painting to adults with special needs.

Volcano Art Center’s Ni‘aulani Campus is located at 19-4074 Old Volcano Road in Volcano Village.