History of AstroDay

Where

Astronomy Day events take place at hundreds of sites across the United States. Internationally England, Canada, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, the Philippines, Argentina, Malaysia, New Guinea plus many other countries have hosted Astronomy Day activities. Each location plans and executes events that work best for their local area.

What

Activities have included talks by astronauts, astronomers and NASA personnel, Moon rocks, a Moon gravity simulator, games, prizes, astronomical food, scale models of the solar system, space hardware, space ballets and poetry and, of course, actual outdoor observing (daytime and nighttime) with a telescope. Daytime observations include SAFE ways to observe the Sun. Many organizations host elaborate exhibits at shopping malls, museums, nature centers, libraries, etc. Teachers have used Astronomy Day to promote the study of astronomy with their classes.

History of Astronomy Day

Astronomy Day was born in California in 1973. Doug Berger, then president of the Astronomical Association of Northern California, decided that rather than try to entice people to travel long distances to visit observatory open houses, they would set up telescopes closer to where the people were - busy locations - urban locations like street corners, shopping malls, parks, etc.

His strategy paid off. Not only did Astronomy Day go over with a bang, not only did the public find out about the astronomy club, they found out about future observatory open houses. Since the public got a chance to look through a portable telescope, they were hooked. Then wanted to see what went on at the bigger telescopes, so they turned out in droves at the next observatory open house.

AstroDay is Born - Long Live AstroDay

History of AstroDay

AstroDay was founded by Gary Fujihara, a former telescope operator at Subaru Telescope and current Outreach Officer for the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy (AKA Mr. AstroDay to his wife) when he discovered the existence of Astronomy Day from the Astronomical League's website. Gary then decided to use the event to bring a better understanding of astronomy and the place from which it is conducted, atop the summit of Mauna Kea. The following is a brief overview of the planning and coordination that took place:

Jan 29, 2002:
The very first thing was to find a principal sponsor. It would be very difficult to recruit exhibitors, solicit funding, enlist volunteers, request prize donations, etc if AstroDay did not have a tangible, established entity that could lend credence to the endeavor of producing it. Without question, Hilo Astronomy Club was the first choice (From our second year, the AstroDay Institute would be the principal sponsor). It was then proposed to, and accepted by the club on its regular meeting February 21, 2002. Okay, two months to go and counting....

The next thing was to find a venue for our shindig. The Prince Kuhio Plaza shopping mall in Hilo was the only place considered. It was large, indoors (protected from Hilo rain, which thankfully did not materialize), air conditioned, provided acres of parking and scores of shoppers. A meeting with the mall manager, Carol Van Camp assured us that we were welcome and helped us by providing gift certificates for prizes, signs and banners. If you need to host a trade show, crafts fair, or event, talk to Carol. Prince Kuhio Plaza is a General Growth Properties company. *Hows that for a plug?*

Astronomers: professional, amateur and 'fake'
We then talked to the Mauna Kea observatories to recruit participants to exhibit displays, conduct demonstrations and provide personnel to deliver presentations. Without delay, all agreed to have a presence at our (up to this point) somewhat nebulous event. Quite a leap of faith these guys had to join up with an event that had never been done before, by a guy they never heard of, who had no experience. By the end of February, we had booked Canada France Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), CalTech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO), Gemini Observatory, InfraRed Telescope Facility (IRTF), Joint Astronomy Centre (JAC), W.M. Keck Observatories, Smithsonian Submillimeter Array (SMA), Subaru Telescope, the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) and even the Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station.

We have the professionals. How about the amateurs? In order to have balanced representation from the astronomical community, we needed to recruit non-professional astronomy groups. HAC and the University of Hawaii at Hilo Astronomy Club were enlisted. Many members brought their telescopes to share with the public. After more web surfing, the website of Meteor Group Hawaii was located and perused, and the organization was recruited with fascinating information and actual meteorite samples. Finally, we recruited a member of the International Dark Sky Association to have a display which included satellite pictures of earth's light pollution at night and solutions including a Low Pressure Sodium lamp.

Student Science Fair Projects
One main purpose of the event was to inspire young people to become interested in science. One way to do this is by showing them what they can accomplished in the form of school science projects created by their peers. This would also be a bonus or 'reward' for the creators of the selected projects. Quite serendipitously, a district science fair was being held during this time at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. After paying a couple visits to view them, several candidate science projects from local intermediate and high schools were selected. The students and their teachers were contacted and soon we had a student science fair project exhibit lined up. "What about the younger kids?"

During his personal outreach activities, Gary came in contact with the Kaumana Elementary 6th grade science class and their teacher, Mrs Cathy Iwaoka. The students were invited to participate and they jumped at the opportunity.

Hawaiian Eye
Right from the beginning, we knew that AstroDay would be a vehicle to educate people about astronomy and the place where it is conducted here on the Big Island. That place is Mauna Kea, arguably the best location in the world for amateur and professional astronomers alike to view the celestial heavens. Therefore without question the exhibit "Mauna Kea - The Temple" would have a place in our event. We were pleased to have representatives from the Royal Order of Kamehameha I host it. Hale Kuao'o, the University of Hawaii Hawaiian Astronomy and Navigation project and the Keaau Hawaiian Language Immersion School were likewise invited to bring exhibits. The students from the latter would be prepared by their instructor Kaliko Trapp for a performance of song and hula during the opening ceremonies.

Onizuka Space Center
With only about two weeks to go before the big show, Art Kimura from Future Flight Hawaii suggested contacting the Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Space Center from Kona about having a display at the event. Nancy Tashima agreed to come and the exhibit would be one of the biggest attractions for kids of all ages.

Kid's Corner
AstroDay should be an experiece for the whole family, and that includes the little guys! The Kid's Corner would be a place where parents could bring their children for fun, games and activities...while they could learn something at the same time. There would be a computer kiosk with a virtual tour of the summit of Mauna Kea, materials for drawing and coloring, mobile making, and other activities and projects. One of the biggest features in the Kid's Corner would be the Comet Making Kitchen, where youngsters could get hands on experience at creating their own comets!

Sky-Q quiz
With over $4000 worth of prizes totalling over 200 pieces to give away, we needed to think of ways to distribute them. Gary originally figured to give away five prizes every hour on the hour for the duration of the event. Of course this was the plan before we had accumulated so much support and so many prizes (at that rate, it would have taken a couple days to give them all away :-). So, we came up with a "Sky-Q" quiz with 10 questions about astronomy and space science. Grading would be on a sliding scale, with more lenience and guidance given to youngsters and more critical evaluation for adults and particularly observatory staff.

Grinds and stuff
Okay, so what is a fair without grids (food, snacks) and stuff (stuff)? Well, although we did not invite food booths (because we didn't want to intercept customers from mall eateries), we considered the fact that the exhibitors would get HUNGRY during the day. We contacted KTA Super Stores for help, and they gave us a great price on lunches, fruits and chips, donated water and gift certificates to give away.

Did someone say "Proclamation"?
We tried like heck to get prominent speakers to make an appearance, but for some reason, most polititians we talked to were booked solid for our event date (working hard for our tax dollars no doubt). So we decided to get the Governor to sign a proclamation and that he did, making April 20, 2002 the official AstroDay 2K2 in all of Hawaii nei!

Einstein Speaks
Gemini Observatory brought over Einstein, AKA Arden Berkovitz to speak in the role of Albert Einstein at the University of Hawaii at Hilo on the evening preceding the AstroDay. Thanks to great advertising and word of mouth referrals, the theatre was packed on the performance night and many in the audience were anxiously awaiting the festivities the following day.

Better than prominent speakers
In order to stimulate interest in science and astronomy, we wanted to get dynamic individuals to speak to the public about their passion. We had no idea who to ask or what they would charge or require (can you say per diem?). We acquired the best speakers from the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy, Subaru Telescope and the University of Hawaii at Hilo to give multimedia presentations using a great 64" large screen television donated for the day by Rent-A-Center. Go see John and Ed at the Waiakea Plaza branch for a great deal. *Another great plug, eh?* The really cool things about these speakers is that they did this for free, had great presentations that captured audiences attentions and imaginations, and almost all of them hung out for the day, helping out at one booth or another.

Hey, we're on the radio, telephone poles and newspapers!
AstroDay had a very aggresive advertising campaign. We worked hard at getting maximum exposure through all media except television (too expensive for this grass roots effort). A progressive, 'teaser' flyer ad campaign was employed throughout Hilo and Mauna Kea starting one month before the event. We distributed 2000 flyers to schools, libraries, stores, shopping centers, gas stations, and popular telephone poles around the Big Island of Hawaii (we pulled most of them down in Hilo and request anyone who reads this to do the same). Then, we submitted Public Service Announcements (PSAs) to the local newspapers, newsletters and radio stations. One week before the event, we bought radio spots (including live interviews) on nearly every radio station broadcasting on the island of Hawaii! We even got Big Island radio personality DC of B97 to do a live remote broadcast. Also, 12" ads were run daily in the largest Hilo newspaper, Hawaii Tribune Herald starting from the Sunday preceding the event. You couldn't walk the streets without running into someone talking about AstroDay

Fundraising..."Hey brother, can you spare a dime?"
This is a task that few enjoy, but working with the local astronomical, educational and merchant communities was a pleasure. Most were more than charitable in their contributions to our event. It is without question that these fine institutions, organizations and groups were the backbone of getting this event off the ground to a roaring success! See the Mahalos page for a full listing of all these fine contributors.

AstroDay 2K2
AstroDay was a big success in 2002. The event won the Astronomy Day of the Year award, which was presented at ALCON 2002.

AstroDay 2K3
There was great increase in interest for AstroDay 2K3. There were more than twice the number of exhibitors (including two from the mainland US) and speakers (also with one from Tuscon, AZ). The AstroDay Institute earned the "Most for its Size" award in 2003.

AstroDay 2K4
This year, the AstroDay Institute decided to include a Botball Scholastic Robotics program component which featured teams from schools and communities around Hawaii Island. Each team brought their robots and displayed them between competition, which eventually determined an unofficial Hawaii Island Botball Champion. It was a great way to introduce the program to the community and have the teams compete for the first time on their island. There was an introduction of many new exhibitors and activities, including the Maunakea Exploration Rover (MER), a takeoff on the NASA JPL Mars Exploration Rover. Over 15,000 people attended this year's event, and we look forward to next year. What is interesting to note, is that we have actually implemented several of the ideas listed on the Future Plans that were first expressed after the original AstroDay 2K2 event in 2002. The AstroDay Institute was named as the "Organization that Sponsors Quality Events Year After Year" by the Astronomical League in 2004.

AstroDay 2K5
The overcast skies and precipitation could not dampen the spirit of the Fourth Annual AstroDay event in Hilo Hawaii on Saturday, April 16th. An estimated 15,000 visitors attended the event at the Prince Kuhio Plaza, with an unprecedented number from West Hawaii thanks to a more effective campaign to inform educators and their students about the event, and a free bus service that provided transportation courtesy of Roberts Hawaii and the UH Institute for Astronomy. We appreciate the opening message and Proclamation from Mayor Harry Kim, and the presentation of the Governor's Proclamation by Hawaii Island Liaison Andy Smith. A key feature of this year's event was the inaugural Excellence in Teaching award that recognizes Hawaii Island K-16 educators whose creativity and enthusiasm engage students in science curriculum in exciting and meaningful ways. This year, two educators were selected: Pascale Pinner of Hilo Intermediate School and Dr. Richard Crowe of the University of Hawaii at Hilo. The award is sponsored by the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Hawaii, with special thanks to Richard Nelson and David DeLuz, Jr. Live Hawaiian slack key musical performances were provided by George Kahumoku, John Keawe and Carlos Andrade, with a National Anthem sung by Divina Maria Medeiros. The Opening Pule featured Kimo Pihana, Koa Ell and Leilehua Yuen. Michael Hannawald and Paul Coleman delivered presentations on Cosmic Clouds and Hawaiian Astronomy, respectively. We would like to acknowledge all of our exhibitors, sponsors and volunteers in this ad and on our Sponsor Page. See our Hilights page!