June2006
Gemini: Welcoming Our New Neighbor Gemini Observatory is participating in the development of the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii from the beginning at different levels, from supplying content advisors to loaning its unused summit console for use in a Gemini-developed Virtual Observatory exhibit. “‘Imiloa is really important to us at Gemini,” said Public Information and Outreach Manager, Peter Michaud, who co-directed ‘Imiloa’s inaugural planetarium show, Mauna Kea: Between Earth and Sky. “Besides being a neighbor across the street, it is a wonderful place for us to leverage our local outreach and education programming. So we’re working to partner with them in as many ways
Figure 6.
From the beginning, Gemini Observatory helped with the development of ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawai’i, including the contribution of a console to house the Gemini Virtual tour.
Photo: Kirk Pu‘uohau-Pummill
as we can. It’s an incredible resource for all of us.” Gemini acting director Jean-René Roy is extremely passionate about Gemini’s role in supporting ‘Imiloa. He sees the new center as an organization that can help astronomers relate to the public. “It’s going to help to remove the stigma that we have of being here just for our own interests, not caring about the local population, not sharing, being those people who just come and get their data and run away,” he said. Gemini has already helped ‘Imiloa on various fronts technically. The loan of its unused summit console is one example. “We were supposed to have a $300,000 observatory simulator in that spot,” said ‘Imiloa executive director Peter Giles, “But that project was cut. Now, thanks to Gemini, we have a real artifact that’s more precise than a fabricated exhibit. And it came to us for nothing. This is an incredible example of how the observatories and ‘Imiloa can work together for the common interest. What a thrill!” The planetarium is also coming in for visual support from Gemini. “We’re now working on a 180˚ fisheye lens time-lapse video system that will image the night sky for an entire night,” Michaud said. “Once we create a video of that, we’ll put it in the planetarium
Figure 7.
‘Imiloa’s 12,000 square-foot exhibit hall features exhibits that weave astronomy and Hawaiian culture into a compelling story of human exploration.
Photo: Kirk Pu‘uohau-Pummill
at ‘Imiloa. We’ll also make the video available to other planetaria. So we’re really getting ahead of the curve to provide resources not just to ‘Imiloa but to planetarium facilities throughout the entire Gemini partnership.”
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