Deep Impact Events on 3 Islands

Here is a listing of some of the various activities connected with the Deep Impact Mission being offered on the Islands of Hawaii, Maui, and Oahu. For further information and links to news articles, see the AstroDay Deep Impact Hawaii page.

Deep Impact - Hilo
     UH Institute for Astronomy Director Rolf-Peter Kudritzki will open the program at 6:00 pm on Sunday, July 3rd in the UH Hilo UCB 100. We will have NASA Discovery Program Manager Todd May, NASA OSS Outreach Manager Shari Asplund, UHH astronomy professor Richard Crowe, and Subaru Telescope astronomer Cathy Ishida on a discussion panel that will give a running commentary on events as they unfold throughout the evening.
     Video conferences will be held with astronomers at most of the observatories on Mauna Kea, including Gemini, NASA IRTF, UH88, JCMT, CFHT, SMA, and CSO before and after the actual impact event, scheduled for 7:52 pm.
     Near real-time images of Comet Tempel 1 will be displayed from telescopes on Mauna Kea, Haleakala, and even the Deep Impact spacecraft.
Contact: Gary Fujihara at (808) 932-2328

Deep Impact - Maui
     Starting at 6:30 pm on July 3rd at the Maui Community College Ka Lama Room 103 (auditorium) Kalaheo High School teacher Sharon Price will host a multimedia event with the support of Pacific Rim Productions, who are donating the use of several large plasma displays and video switching equipment. Joining Sharon will be NASA Payload Mission Specialist Mike Martin, IfA astronomers Shadia Habbal and Jonathan Williams, and Maui astronomer James Armstrong, who will be offering a running commentary on events as they happen throughout the course of the evening.
     Live video conferences with astronomers on Haleakala and an international team of educators and students from Great Britain, Iceland, and Hawaii who will be observing the event with the Faulkes Telescope. The conference will share with the public that substantive research on this cosmic event is not only for professional astronomers and space scientists, but for our teachers and students here in Hawaii.
     Near real-time images will be shared with the public from the Faulkes Telescope, and from other observatories in Hawaii, while the Haleakala Amateur Astronomers offer views of the comet and other wonders of the universe through their telescopes that will be set up on the courtyard near Ka Lama Building.
Contact: Gary Fujihara at (808) 932-2328

Deep Impact - Oahu

Bishop Museum
     The University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy teams up with Bishop Museum and the Hawaiian Astronomical Society in having a "Comet Collision Countdown" starting Sunday evening, July 3rd, at 5:30 pm on the museum grounds. The museum will offer planetarium shows, a reptile exhibit and fun space activities for the whole family.
     UH Institute for Astronomy (IfA) astronomers Toby Owen, Gareth Wynn-Williams, Jeff Morgan and Mark Willman will give presentations on comets, a background on the Deep Impact mission, and searching for new Earths.
     Several IfA faculty and students will be on the lawn with members of the Hawaiian Astronomical Society, giving views of the comet and offering commentary on events as the unravel throughout the evening.
$3 per person admission charge
Bishop Museum: Contact: Carolyn Kaichi at 847-8203

Sunset on the Beach
     The regular "Sunset on the Beach" program from Waikiki Beach will feature a Deep Impact event overview by UH Institute for Astronomy researcher Robert Joseph, followed by a live feed from NASA TV just before the encounter of the Deep Impact spacecraft probe and Comet Tempel 1.
     The movie, "The Dish" will begin at 8:00 pm, but may be interrupted for updates as events unfold.
Sunset on the Beach: Contact: Mona Wood at 218-5546