ann24033 — Announcement

NSF NOIRLab and Gemini Welcomed Visitors to AstroDay 2024 in Kona

11 November 2024

Together with the other Maunakea Observatories (MKOs), and a collection of STEM organizations, the International Gemini Observatory, funded in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by NSF NOIRLab, celebrated the annual AstroDay Kona. On Saturday, 2 November 2024, friends and families of all ages were invited to the free event held outdoors at the Kona Commons Shopping Center in Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i.

AstroDay Kona provided an estimated 600 visitors with the opportunity to learn about the Universe and the spectacular discoveries made by Gemini and the other telescopes on Maunakea. Like the Annual AstroDay in Hilo each May, this event is led by the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy.

To share the wonders of the cosmos that inspire astronomy research, observatory staff presented the community with special science demonstrations, activities and informative exhibitions, including dozens of free images, hands on optics demonstrations, and exoplanet crafts!

More information

NSF NOIRLab (U.S. National Science Foundation National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory), the U.S. center for ground-based optical-infrared astronomy, operates the International Gemini Observatory (a facility of NSF, NRC–Canada, ANID–Chile, MCTIC–Brazil, MINCyT–Argentina, and KASI–Republic of Korea), Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), the Community Science and Data Center (CSDC), and Vera C. Rubin Observatory (operated in cooperation with the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory). It is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with NSF and is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. The astronomical community is honored to have the opportunity to conduct astronomical research on I’oligam Du’ag (Kitt Peak) in Arizona, on Maunakea in Hawai‘i, and on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón in Chile. We recognize and acknowledge the very significant cultural role and reverence that these sites have to the Tohono O’odham Nation, to the Native Hawaiian community, and to the local communities in Chile, respectively.