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Friends of IfA Activities

Friends are invited to attend lectures and special events at both the Manoa and Hilo campuses. Members receive invitations to receptions and other members-only activities in connection with many of these events.

Upcoming Events

The IfA Special Events calendar lists upcoming events to which the public is invited, including events on Maui and the Big Island. If you would like to receive e-mail notices of these events, please send an e-mail to ifaevents@ifa.hawaii.edu.

The following events are scheduled for 2009. Please note that times and events may change at any time.

February

Feb. 17 : Cosmo-chemistry lab tour for Friends only.
Feb. 27: Lunch with the IfA director for donors. You will receive a personal invitation if you qualify.

March

Mar. 18: Frontiers of Astronomy community lecture, 7:30 p.m. The speaker is Dr. David Jewitt from IfA. Everyone is invited to the lecture. Friends will receive invitations to a reception at 6:15 to meet the speakers.

April

Apr. 5: IfA Open House. Everyone is invited.
Apr. 6: Remote Faulkes telescope observing from IfA for Friends only.

May

Frontiers of Astronomy lecture. Everyone is invited.

June

Lecture for Friends and MIT alumni.
Star party and barbeque for Friends.

July

Frontiers of Astronomy lecture. Everyone is invited.

August

Aug. 29: Mauna Kea workshop and tour for Friends only. Pay for your own travel and meal expenses.
Lecture by IfA Director Dr. Rolf Kudritzki for Friends only.

September

Sept. 25: Astronomy theme night at the Academy of Arts Art After Dark.

Schedule of Annual Friends Events

The Friends group plans the following yearly events, which are subject to change or cancellation. Details will be posted on this page as events are planned. You will also receive information via mail or e-mail.

Month	Event	Member Level
January	Laboratory Tour	All Friends
February	Lunch with the IfA Director Frontiers of Astronomy Lecture	Sponsor and higher Public
March	Star Party at Kapiolani Park	All Friends
April	Open House	Public
May	Frontiers of Astronomy Lecture	Public
June	Guided Tour of Honolulu or Hilo or Maui Facilities	Contributor and higher
July	Star Party on North Shore	All Friends
August	Annual Observatories Summer Workshop Frontiers of Astronomy Lecture	All Friends Public
September	Guided Tour of Mauna Kea or Haleakala	Sponsor and higher
October	Meet the Grads Night	Public
November	Remote Observing Time on Faulkes Frontiers of Astronomy Lecture	All Friends Public
December	Christmas Party with IRTF and IfA	Associate and higher

Observatory Tours and Workshops

Every summer the Friends plan a tour of either the Mauna Kea Observatories and UH IfA Hilo facilities or the Haleakala Observatories and UH IfA Pukalani facilities. The purpose of the tours is to learn how astronomers do their research. Information will be posted above when you can sign up for the tours. The workshops and tours are free, but members pay for their own travel expenses and are charged a fee for group meals and snacks.

You can download presentations from the August 2007 MKO Summer Workshop. Topics include telescopes, astronomy instruments, CCDs, and astrophysics.

Lectures and Special Events

The IfA Special Events calendar shows a complete listing of upcoming lectures and other special events. (You can also check the Earlier Events section to see what you have been missing.)

Colloquia

The IfA Colloquia calendar shows a complete listing of lectures by UH and visiting astronomers.

Most lectures take place in the IfA auditorium at 3:30 p.m. Light refreshments are served at 3:15.
A few lectures take place at 12:30 p.m. Feel free to bring your lunch.

Photo Gallery

Peruse photos of Friends activities and special events:

Cosmochemistry Laboratory's Ion Microprobe
Mauna Kea Observatories 2007 Workshop
Haleakala Observatories 2008 Workshop

For examples of current research by IfA scientists, including photos of today's sun, the solar system, stars and star formation, galaxies, cosmology, and instrumentation and observatories, please see the IfA images archive.

Cosmochemistry Laboratory's Ion Microprobe

Friends members toured the Cosmochemistry Laboratory's Ion Microprobe, a specialized, highly sensitive mass spectrometer to analyze meteorites, samples returned from space missions, and other such compounds.

Ion Microprobe analyses tell scientists about the environment in which the compound was made, giving clues about the conditions in the early Solar System.

Mauna Kea Observatories 2007 Workshop

The MKO Summer 2007 Workshop included an explanation of telescopes by Klaus Hodapp.

Mauna Kea casts a shadow onto clouds. The MKO Tour participants enjoyed spectacular views.

The MKO Summer Workshop and Tour included a visit to Gemini Observatory.

Summer workshop participants learned about the Subaru camera.

Haleakala Observatories 2008 Workshop

Summer 2008 Haleakala workshop participants toured an optics labs at the IfA Pukalani facility.

Paticipants heard about optics research and machine technology.

A highlight of the workshop was a tour of the Mees Solar Observatory. Participants also toured the Air Force satellite tracking facilities.

Workshop participants toured the Pan-STARRS 1 prototype and learned about observations to detect near-Earth objects.

The summit provided beautiful sunset views.

The observatories on Mauna Kea were visible from the Haleakala summit.

Participants learned how the clamshell dome over the Faulkes telescope is opened and closed for viewing.

Participants toured the Faulkes telescope before viewing on it after dark.

The crescent Moon shines over the Faulkes telescope.

Participants enjoyed observing time on the Faulkes telescope to learn about the Dumbbell Nebula.

RIght Column

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