StarLab - to the Universe and Beyond!
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Students from Innovations Public Charter School have been learning about Polynesian navigators who used the stars to guide their ocean travels. Students had their own "starry" experience recently when they visited Janice Harvey from The Gemini Observatory who took them on a tour of the night sky in StarLab. StarLab is an inflatable lab that travels to schools to make astronomy come alive for students. |
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After entering the huge air-inflated dome, the students were greeted with total darkness. As they sat and looked up, Ms. Harvey turned on the star globe that projected images taken at the observatory of the night sky . Students were guided to find the various constellations and heard stories of how the constellations were named. Students were also treated to a slide show of photos taken by the Gemini telescope. |
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The twin 8-meter Gemini telescope, located on Hawaii's Mauna Kea, provides astronomers with one of the most powerful optical/infrared telescopes to ever gaze skyward. Standing 7 stories high, the huge telescope has 8.1 meter (26.58 foot) "primary" mirror which collects as much light as 2 million human eyes and looks at our universe with more clarity than the Hubble Space Telescope. From star-forming regions, to the cores of active galaxies, the Gemini telescope is helping scientists to explore the universe in unprecedented detail. |
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Students receive instructions how to enter the inflated starlab from Janice Harvey. |
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Telescopes like Gemini are time machines that will help write chapters in the history of the cosmos. Exploration that Gemini will contribute to include the formation of planetary systems, birth of stars, origin of chemical elements, origin of quasars, and the formation and evolution of galaxies. As discoveries are made, exciting new questions will emerge and Gemini will be there to help provide the answers. |
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In addition to seeing slides of the known planets, students were shown pictures taken by the telescope which capture the formation of a new sun and its planets. As Ms. Harvey displayed the various constellations and showed her slides, she encouraged students to study hard in math and science and consider coming to work someday at the telescope facility. To find out more about the Gemini
Observatory, visit |
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