{"id":46524,"date":"2016-06-01T15:02:13","date_gmt":"2016-06-02T01:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=46524"},"modified":"2019-02-07T11:30:18","modified_gmt":"2019-02-07T21:30:18","slug":"high-school-maunakea-scholars-reach-for-the-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2016\/06\/01\/high-school-maunakea-scholars-reach-for-the-stars\/","title":{"rendered":"High school Maunakea Scholars reach for the stars"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> < 1<\/span> minute<\/span><\/span>
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Maunakea Scholars and teachers on the Canada-France-Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Telescope catwalk in front of Gemini-North<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Maunakea Scholars in front of the Gemini-North telescope<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Students from Waiakea and Kapolei High Schools spent the night at the Canada-France-Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Telescope<\/a> (CFHT) in the inaugural Maunakea Scholars program. The program provides Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> high school students direct access to some of the world’s most powerful telescopes as well as mentorship for independent astronomy research projects ranging from quasars to exoplanets. Andreea Petric<\/strong>, CFHT<\/abbr> resident astronomer and University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Institute for Astronomy<\/a> graduate students Kelly Blumenthal<\/strong> and Evan Sinukoff<\/strong> served as mentors for the scholars.<\/p>\n

Student proposals were submitted for review and telescope time awarded, much as it is for professional astronomers worldwide. Once telescope time was awarded, the students had the opportunity to visit the telescopes at the science reserve atop Maunakea for an in-depth look at the science and technology taking place, allowing them to use the data for their projects. The students also visited CFHT<\/abbr>’s Waimea headquarters for a night of remote observing in the telescope control room, watching data stream live from the summit to computer systems in Waimea. <\/p>\n