#maunakea

Volcano Watch: As people from around the world are captivated by episodic lava fountaining during the ongoing Kīlauea eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu, let’s use the current pause and transition our attention back to the details of another recent eruption—Maunaloa in 2022.

Astronomers using W. M. Keck Observatory at Maunakea on Hawaiʻi Island have found compelling evidence of a dark matter-deficient dwarf galaxy, FCC 224. The discovery challenges the traditional cosmological paradigm, which assumes dark matter is a fundamental component in galaxy formation.

Maunakea on Hawaiʻi Island is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The majestic mountain earned the designation on March 27, 2025, and is identified as a Traditional Cultural Property or TCP and District by the federal government of the United States.

Despite being a scenario widely pondered by astronomers and Hollywood writers for decades, further observations have since determined YR4 will not impact the Earth in 2032 as originally predicted. However, there is a ~2% chance it could hit the Moon instead, according to the study.

Decades of W.M. Keck Observatory research on the famed Wolf-Rayet 104 “pinwheel star” system has taken a new turn.

A team of researchers using data from W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawaiʻi Island, and NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has likely discovered a stable trio of icy space rocks in the solar system’s Kuiper Belt. If confirmed, the 148780 Altjira system would be the second known three-body system in the region, suggesting similar triples may exist and supporting a theory about the solar system’s history and early formation of Kuiper Belt objects.

An observatory on Maunakea played a pivotal role in a groundbreaking study that sheds light on the birth and evolution of planetary systems. Using the Submillimeter Array (SMA), an astronomer from the University of Hawaiʻi helped capture crystal-clear images of exocomet belts—regions around stars where icy and rocky objects called exocomets are found.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa continues to solidify its status as a leading research institution, ranking No. 92 among the top 660 research universities in the US and No. 68 among the top 420 public universities.

University of Hawai‘i Maui College Associate Professor Dr. Joseph Keola Donaghy documents and explores the role that musical performance and composition practice played in efforts to defend Maunakea and how these practices reflected the idea of kapu aloha that was prevalent among kia‘i (protectors).

The Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA) will host its 2024 Native Hawaiian Convention on Hawai‘i Island at the Hilton Waikoloa Village from Sept. 17 to Sept. 19, 2024. 

Among its many science programs, IRTF is used to identify asteroids and comets that may pose a threat to Earth. The NASA contract with UH has a maximum potential value of approximately $85.5 million and could extend through December 2033, according to the space agency.

A University of Hawaiʻi telescope on Maunakea will play a key role in a newly approved $19.5 million NASA space mission that will put an artificial “star” in orbit around the Earth. The star will be a satellite that scientists will use to precisely calibrate telescopes and more accurately measure the brightness of objects ranging from nearby stars to distant explosions of supernovae in far-off galaxies. As part of the NASA Landolt Space Mission, astronomers at the UH Institute for Astronomy (IfA) will utilize observations to generate fresh star brightness catalogs.

Last week’s “Volcano Watch” summarized Kīlauea’s explosive eruptions of 1924 and their impacts on communities. This week, scientists dig a little deeper and share new discoveries being made by examining the ash deposited during these events.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for the Big Island Summits, in effect from noon on Friday, May 10 to 6 a.m. on Saturday, May 11, 2024.

Wenaokeao, meaning “earliest glow of light,” is the name given to the SPIRou spectrograph and ESPaDOnS, which are used to observe the colors of light emitting from stars.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo will begin the removal of the Hōkū Keʻa Observatory on the summit of Maunakea the week of April 15, 2024. The decommissioning process that includes the restoration of the site is expected to be completed by August.

The decommissioning of Hōkū Kea is tentatively scheduled to begin in late 2023 and take about five months to complete.  Hōkū Kea is the second telescope on Maunakea now in the final phase of the extensive decommissioning process required under the Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan.

The University of Hawaiʻi is a major contributor to protecting Earth from asteroids big and small with several telescopes and programs on Maui.

Governor David Ige submitted the names of eight nominees for the Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority to the Hawaiʻi State Senate for confirmation.

Governor David Ige and leadership from the State Senate and House of Representatives have extended the application deadline for the Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority to Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. The original application deadline was July 28.