We all checked into our rooms at the hostel.
Morning: Scale with Dr. Nordgren
After a short lecture and some math, we went down to the beach to
construct a scale
model of the solar system. 
Aftermoon: Geology with Dr. Rathbun
After a discussion of the reading, we worked on a lab that was
entirely too long.
We all piled into a 15 person van and drove around the south eastern part of the island of Oahu stopping to take pictures of the geology.
Drs. Rathbun and Nordgren at the first stop: Pali overlook.
The view from the last stop: a hike to the top of Diamond
Head.
We took the bus to the Institute
for Astronomy at the Univeristy of
Hawaii at Manoa to get a lecture from Dr. Johnathan
Williams about star formation.
On the way back, we stopped for Mochi ice
cream.
In the morning we again took the bus to UH Manoa, this time for a
planetary science lecture from Sarah
Fagents.
Afterward, we walked over to the trailhead and hiked to Manoa
Falls.
The group at
the beginning of the trail to Manoa Falls. Front row: Kara
Babb, Christine Jones, and
Ali Lavine. Middle row: Laura Horner, Bri Langlas, Julio
Carillo, and Emily Webster. Back row: Dr. Julie Rathbun,
Quinton Hufford, Luke, Dr. Tyler Nordgren, Chase Ellis.
Hiking must have a strange affect on this bunch seen getting silly at
the falls.
We spent the day at the Bishop
Museum. In addition to the fabulous
collection of native Hawaiian art, they have a wonderful
planetarium where you can learn about the ancient Hawaiin
astronomers. Dr. Rathbun's favorite new toy is a
spherical
screen on which planets can be projected.
The newest building added to the museum is the Science Activity Center
where you can learn all about volcanoes, including a
show where they melt rocks into lava.
Chase, Laura, Bri, and Q seemed to enjoy the children's dress up and
play area.
Molten rock pouring out of a furnance at the "Meet me at the Hot Spot" Show.
At the same show, Dr. Nordgren got picked to demonstrate where
volcanoes come from. Christine managed to get a movie of the action.
After a short flight from Oahu to the Big Island, we checked into our Bed & Breakfast in Volcano Village just outside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
We fought for seats on the right side of the plane so we could get
pictures of Mauna Kea on the way in.
We took a drive around the crater rim, learning about the geology of the features on the way and taking pictures. We stopped at the Earthquake Trail, Devastation Trail, Thurston Lava Tube, Keanakako'i Crater, and the 1982 Lava Flow.
Thurston lava tube.
Most of the class striking a pose at a fissure across the street from
Kanakako'i. From left to right: Bri, Laura, Christine,
Julio, Dr. Rathbun, Q, Luke, and Emily.
During the stop at the 1982 lava flow, one of the students was running. Note: Lava is dangerous, do not run. We ended up having to cut the day short to tend to his wounds.
The messy (and painful) result of running on lava.
In the morning we got a lecture and tour of Hawaii Volcanoes observatory led by Don Swanson.
The group listing to Don as he talks about the Volcano behind the
Observatory.
After completing the tour cut short yesterday, we went on a 4 mile hike across the Kilauea Iki caldera. Most of the time we were hiking through mist and rain.
From the overlook you can see the trail we're about to take across the
caldera floor.
We steamed hot dogs in the steam vents on the floor of Kilauea Iki.
The group at the base of the Pu'u Pau'i cinder cone inside the
caldera.
A previous group left an offering for Pele.
After a busy day we all heading to the Kilauea Lodge for a nice
dinner.
Some of the group got up early to visit the steam vents and sulfur banks before breakfast.
A clear view of Mauna Loa above the Kilauea steam vents.
Students taking pictures of the steam vents.
The sun attempts to rise over the clouds above the steam vents.
The early birds in front of a cloudless view of Mauna Kea behind
Kilauea caldera.
This movie shows a pan across the floor of the entire Kilauea Caldera. First Mauna Loa can be seen in the background, then, looking smaller, Mauna Kea.
In the afternoon the entire group toured the chain of craters road on the way to see the molten lava entering the ocean.
The group at a stop looking at different types of lava flows. They
are standing on pahoehoe
with a'a
in the background.
The group on another pahoehoe flow that covered parts of the old
road.
Behind us, our van looks small compared to the 30 year old flows on the Pali.
The darker flows are a'a while the shiny ones are
pahoehoe.
At the end of the road we needed to make a mad dash from the flowing
lava.
Or did we?
As it became dark we began to take photos of the lava entering the
sea.
The glow of the lava against the steam looked like the dancing of
Pele. Christine captured this fabulous image of the
volcano goddess.
We took a driving tour of the geology of the Hilo area, stopping at Rainbow Falls, Boiling Pots, and Kaumana Cave (a lava tube).
Unfortunately, it was cloudy the day we went to Rainbow falls and we
went in the afternoon when the rainbow isn't too
noticable, anyway. But, I went alone Wednesday morning and
got this great shot.
We drove to Waimea to see the headquarters of the Keck telescope and hear a talk from Al Conrad.
Dr. Nordgren standing on a lawn the size of Keck's primary mirror.
While on the western side of the island, we drove to Kona to attend a Luau.
The entire group waiting for dinner.
Of course, with such a large group, several people got chosen to get
up on stage to dance, including some students...
and Dr. Nordgren.
A movie captures the action.
There was also a fire dancer, whom the female students seemed to like.
A long exposure of the fire dancer.
From left to right: Emily, Ali, Christine, fire dancer, Laura, Kara,
Bri.
After a short lecture by Dr. Nordgren, the students began work on picking out features to observe with the telescope next week.
We spent some time in the brand new I'miloa museum. They have galleries on Hawaiian culture and astronomy and a VERY cool planetarium show.
Mosaic tile floor of the I'miloa logo.
We drove to the IFA building in Hilo where several of the telescopes on Mauna Kea, including NASA's IRTF, are controlled from. We got great talks from Gary Fujikara, the IFA's education and outreach specialist, Bobby Bus, an astronomy for IRTF, and Koa Ell, Gary's assitant and Native Hawaiin expert on Hawaiian culture. Than we went down to the IRTF labs to learn about InfraRed imaging.
The students learn that objects that can transmit visible light can
block infrared light, as Kara demonstrates.
We drove on up to the summit of Mauna Kea in our spiffiy 15 person 4 wheel drive van stopping on the way to view some geology. After an hour or so at the visitor's center at 9000 feet to get used to the altitude, we went up to the 13,000 foot summit to visit the telescopes.
The group in front of the IRTF, CFHT, Gemini and UH telescope
domes.
We stayed at the summit to to watch the sunset. Afterward, we went down to the visitor's center to do some stargazing. What a gorgeous sky up here!
The shadow of Mauna Kea and the actual summit cinder cone.
A movie shows Mauna Loa, the summit of Mauna Kea, and the shadow of Mauna Kea.
We had purchased time on a telescope in New Mexico and used the IRTF control room to control the camera and telescope. We observed 5 objects and all of the students were able to operate the telescope. Due to the time difference, we were only up until 12:30!
Students did a great job presenting the photos they took of the geology on the islands.
After the 7th of 10 presentations we stopped for
a seventh inning stretch.
While handing back some papers, Tyler sports the t-shirt the students
got him.
After such a good job on the presentations (and the entire class), we
took the students out for ice cream.
The class was over. I believe we all had a busy, tiring, and fun time in Hawaii.