East Asian Observatory

Our day crew has been working hard to preform maintenance on our receiver SCUBA-2. Here we can see a clear plate has been place on the instrument to be able to see the insides while running tests.

We had a great time at the Tanabata Block party sharing about black hole observations! Thanks to all the MKO observatories, vendors and volunteers that helped put on such a stellar event!

Come stop by the EAO booth this Saturday at the Tanabata Block Party!

Our former coworker Professor Jane Greaves of Cardiff University presented new JCMT observations of molecules in the atmosphere of Venus at the UK National Astronomy Meeting. They were using Namakanui and detected ammonia, which is a possible sign of life. This got international coverage on TV, e.g. by CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/29/science/venus-gases-phosphine-ammonia (the video at the top of the page is not about the JCMT observations though) - and some information from the LinkedIn page of the Royal Astronomical Society: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/royalastrosoc_nam2024-activity-7219372314818146305-S5jl/ (which is the source of the photo)

We are looking for a "EAO/JCMT Telescope System Specialist I & II" - which were formerly called telescope operator. This is mostly night work. Details can be found here:

EAO/JCMT Telescope System Specialist I & II EAO/JCMT Telescope System Specialist I & II Full time Regular Employment at East Asian Observatory JCMT Category: Science Locations: Hilo, Summit Open date: Monday, April 8, 2024 Closing date: Until filled Job number: 202403 Information/Apply Summary Regular, Full-Time, position with the East Asian....

Happy Aloha ! 🌺 Did you catch it? A few weeks ago, the Event Horizon Telescope ( ) released new images of the supermassive black hole in the center of galaxy Messier 87 revealing what has changed and what has stayed the same since our first look at the famous black hole. 📡The EHT is a world wide collaboration in which the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) and Submillimeter Array (SMA) on Maunakea serve as crucial telescopes in obtaining data. The supermassive black hole M87*, also known as Pōwehi, was the first black hole ever imaged making groundbreaking history back in 2017. 🤓Read more about the newly released images here: https://ow.ly/npbk50QzgN5

The 2024 East Asian Observatory (EAO) Research Fellow position now accepting applicants:

The 2024 East Asian Observatory (EAO) Research Fellow | AAS Job Register To promote East Asian regional astronomy research cooperation, the East Asian Core Observatory Association (EACOA) and The East Asian Observatory (EAO) jointly encourage and support highly qualified young researchers from all over the world to join and conduct joint research activities with colleagu...

Remember when EAO Deputy Director Dan Bintley and Electronics Engineer Kuan-Yu Liu were interviewed for a news segment on "The Borderless World", an award-winning program from one of the leading broadcasting companies in Taiwan, SETTV back in August?

Watch the result of those interviews on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/4znSKEcAZy4?si=Ehh0_QDZXq1dqboR

Released only a day ago, and already has 14,000 views! Fantastic! 🤩 The JCMT segment occurs within the first 17 minutes of the program.

! From Phys.org: Ghostlike dusty galaxy reappears in James Webb Space Telescope Image ✨ "This galaxy, AzTECC71, was first detected as an indistinct blob of dust emission by a camera on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii that sees in wavelengths between far infrared and microwave." A perfect example of the synergy between ground-based and space telescopes! It's a team effort!

https://phys.org/news/2023-12-ghostlike-dusty-galaxy-reappears-james.html

Ghostlike dusty galaxy reappears in James Webb Space Telescope image It first appeared as a glowing blob from ground-based telescopes and then vanished completely in images from the Hubble Space Telescope. Now, the ghostly object has reappeared as a faint, yet distinct galaxy in an image from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

🤩 JCMT Telescope System Specialist Andrea McClöskey helps Hilo Intermediate School in a "Reach for the Stars" competition by attending the study sessions preparing students for an astronomy focused exam! 🌠

🌬 Tis the Season! ❄️🥶

The road to the summit is currently closed. Check road and weather conditions here: http://mkwc.ifa.hawaii.edu

Happy ! We are here at the Imiloa Astronomy Center until 4:30pm today! Stop by our booth on the way to a planetarium show and say hi!

Yesterday was an "All Hands On Deck" situation at JCMT in which 11 staff members came to the summit to help clean the electrical busbars. The busbar's copper wires support the telescope's high voltage power distribution and periodically need to be cleaned and re-lubricated. Despite the elbow grease required at high altitude (no easy feat!), the staff had a lot of fun spending the day together doing something different!

Check out this fantastic news clip of EAO Director General, Dr. Paul Ho, our fearless leader 🤩 https://www.taiwanplus.com/news/taiwan-news/technology-and-science/231101012/leading-astronomers-hail-asia-pioneer-paul-tp-ho

Leading Astronomers Hail Asia Pioneer Paul T.P. Ho World-renowned astronomers have gathered in Taipei to celebrate the work of Dr. Paul T.P. Ho, a pioneer in developing the field of astronomy in Asia.

📡 Teen Science Night at the Hawaii Science and Technology Museum featuring JCMT Telescope System Specialist Andrea McClöskey tomorrow, Wednesday, November 8th from 5:00-6:30pm! 💡 Students ages 13-19 can participate in an Optical Inquiry to learn about how light travels, what different wavelengths of light mean, and how some of the fundamentals were discovered! See flyer for more info! ✨

Another successful Maunakea Wonders Teacher Workshop in the books! 📚 The 8th Maunakea Wonders Teacher Workshop in collaboration with the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Department of Education Master's in Teacher program focused on connecting soon-to-be teachers with Maunakea resources that they can use in their future teaching careers. We had a great time talking about Hawaiian navigational starlines✨, the reasons for the seasons 🍂, and what makes Hawai'i the best place on Earth for science📡! A big mahalo to our presenters Leinani, Emily, Jess, Akil, Angelu, and Callie for sharing their enthusiasm and passion for astronomy!

Nice to see a familiar face! A few weeks ago Director General of EAO, Dr. Paul Ho, was in the Netherlands for a meeting, and got to reunite with former JCMT Deputy Director, Dr. Jessica Dempsey. 😍 Dr. Dempsey is currently the Director of ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy. 📡

Having a blast 💥 🚀 at AstroDay in Kona! We're here talking Black Holes until 3pm today at the Kona Commons Shopping Center!

Come visit the EAO booth at AstroDay this Saturday in the Kona Commons Shopping Center to learn more about black hole jets!

Just a reminder that new discoveries await at Kona Commons next Saturday, Oct. 7 at AstroDay! Aside from fun activities and science demos, enter to win cool prizes as well (no purchase necessary).

🤩 First Spectra from our on-loan 690 GHz Receiver, Kuntur! ✨ We haven’t quite finished optical alignment, and as of yet have no pointing model nor done pointing and focus prior to this. But … as the weather was reasonable - we did quick observations on two sources to check system temperatures while the dish cooled - and we have detected strong CO lines on both sources (W75N and G34.3)! With pointing and focus and stable sky - we can improve. The next steps are to finish the mirror alignment checks in the daytime and then find reasonable nighttime / morning Extended Observing time to develop the instrument pointing model. Excited to see what we can obtain when this receiver is in full use for science!

Once in a blue moon.. 🌕 Yesterday was a sweet treat for JCMT and SMA ʻohana as we joined together to celebrate our joint achievements with the Event Horizon Telescope. After a scrumptious barbecue, we headed to the Imiloa Astronomy Center where we enjoyed a private preview of the new planetarium show “Black Hole: First Picture”. This fantastic production is now playing at ‘Imiloa and is highly recommended! Check out their website for hours and showtimes https://imiloahawaii.org/.

to a couple of weeks ago when JCMT staff were interviewed for a news segment on "The Borderless World", an award-winning program from one of the leading broadcasting companies in Taiwan, SETTV. Pictured here from EAO are Dan Bintley and Kuan-Yu Liu alongside the SETTV journalistic team of Mr. Po Chi Liu and Correspondent Marcos Shiang. 🤩🎥 The segment is slated to air in late September/ early October!

The devastating events on Maui have been heavy on our hearts and minds. We appreciate all of our extended ʻohana who have reached out to check in our well being. Please know that the EAO and other Maunakea Observatories and staff are committed to offering support and assistance to the relief efforts in any way we can for the long term. Maui resident, former HI STAR student, UH Mānoa astronomy graduate, and now UT Austin astronomy PhD student, Erica Sawczynec, has written an article on how you can help those impacted by the fires:

Mālama Maui From Erica Sawczynec: As astronomers, many of our lives have been touched by the islands of Hawaiʻi & now it’s our kuleana (responsibility) to show up for the Hawaiʻi community when they need …

📡📡 JCMT staff has had the privilege of hosting teachers from around the US this summer as part of the SETI Institute’s Astronomy Activation Ambassadors program! ✏️🍎18 science teachers from 14 states toured the JCMT and other Maunakea facilities to observe scientific research taking place first hand. The participants will take their real-life experience and enthusiasm back to the classroom to enhance their students learning through STEM engagements.

Read more about the SETI AAA program here: https://www.seti.org/aaa

Do you recall? 📡 Back in 2020, an international team of astronomers, led by Professor Jane Greaves of Cardiff University, UK, announced the discovery of a rare molecule – phosphine – in the clouds of Venus. The detection of phosphine, first spotted from the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope on Maunakea, could point to extra-terrestrial ‘aerial’ life on Venus. Of course, the scientific community has heavily scrutinized this finding as explanations are explored. Recently announced, however, follow-up observations taken in 2022 and 2023 using multiple telescopes have confirmed additional detections of Phosphine! Venus is well positioned this month in the daytime sky, making it big and bright for continuing the pursuit of data to learn more!

Read more: https://ow.ly/jayS50PiwYY