Hawaii student’s astronomy project wins Science Fair award

A Hawaii freshman, Travis Le, 14, accepts his third-place special award from the American Association of Physics Teachers and the American Physical Society during the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. The other students receving awards from the physics societies were Kaylyn Jackson, 18, from Virginia, and Sayuri Sepulveda, 16, from Quebec, Canada. (Photo: Le Family)

Punahou School freshman Travis Le says a high-tech educational project on the summit of Haleakala allowed him to submit an award-winning Science Fair project on extrasolar planets.

He is among hundreds of students around the world discovering they don’t need a starship to explore space. They have been given the keys to the Faulkes Telescope (North), a 2-meter telescope designed for youngsters to find opportunities in science and technology while they peer at the distant reaches of the universe from the keyboard of their computers.

On Maui,12-year-old Brandon Arisumi, a Maui Waena Middle School 7th grader, used observations with Faulkes as a step toward earning an astronomy merit badge while he discovered the glow of the Crab nebula.

Iao Middle School student Noah Yap, 12, explored the limits and effects of a laser ranging system tracking satellites.

Le, 14, turned a passion for astronomy into a study of the possibility of a second planet in WASP 2 — a star system 470 light years from Earth — earning a $500 special award at the 2009 Intel International Science & Engineering Fair.

“This is for science and for education,” says Dr. James “JD” Armstrong, coordinator of the Faulkes Telescope Project for the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy.

For Le, it’s been both. With help from Armstrong, he was able to prepare his 2009 Science Fair project, “WASP 2-b or Not Just 2-b: Does WASP 2 have more than one planet?”

Le’s project placed third in the Hawaii State Science & Engineering Fair, and took a special award at the International S&E Fair from the American Association of Physics Teachers and the American Physical Society.

“Without the Faulkes Telescope, I probably wouldn’t have finished my project at all,” Le said, noting the help from Armstrong in keying the coordinates and settings after the student prepared his observation proposal.

WASP, Wide Angle Search for Planets, is an ongoing research project involving eight universities monitoring distant stars for evidence of planets in orbit to determine if other stars have orbiting companions as with the Solar System.

WASP 2 is a star in the vicinity of the Constellation Delphinus, for which at least one extrasolar planet, WASP-2b, is identified. With a goal of determining whether there other planetary objects in WASP 2, Le set up his observations on the Faulkes system.

“To prove whether or not WASP 2 had more than one planet or not, what I did was compare the theoretical midpoint time of the transit of WASP-2b to the experimental midpoint time of transit.

Punahou freshman Travis Le explains his effort to identify a possible second planet in the WASP 2 system using observations from Faulkes Telescope (North) as he awaits the judging during the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair held in Reno, Nev., in May. (Photo: Le Family)

“Using the Faulkes Telescope I was able to take pictures of the transit and produce a light curve from it, which helped me determine the experimental midpoint time for the transit.”

He found evidence that WASP 2 may have more than one planet, promoting further investigation to determine whether there are other planets orbiting WASP 2.

“If this leads to the discovery of a second planet, it would be very significant to astronomy because there are only 347 known extrasolar planets to this date,” he said.

Maui a key facility in global network

Noting the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education, Maui Economic Development Board President Jeanne Skog said the achievements of students accessing Faulkes validates the University of Hawaii’s astronomy program.

“Hawaii is established as a premier location for astronomy, drawing scientists from around the world to conduct research from facilities on Haleakala and Mauna Kea. The science contributes to STEM educational programs from the grade school to the university post-graduate level while opening opportunities for Hawaii’s young people to be engaged in science and technology,” Skog said.

MEDB supports and collaborates with Institute for Astronomy programs.

Developed in 2004 by the Faulkes Telescope Project, the facility on Haleakala in 2006 became a key component in the Las Cumbres Observatory/Global Telescope Network. The observatory plan originated with British astronomer/entrepreneur MC “Dill” Faulkes and his Dill Faulkes Educational Trust of London.

Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network is a nonprofit scientific and educational foundation based in Santa Barbara, Calif., which took over the Faulkes telescope in Hawaii as part of a program to develop a global observing network, building on the Faulkes project.

Faulkes Telescope North in Hawaii is managed by the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy as part of the Las Cumbres network.

At IfA, Paul Coleman is Faulkes project scientist. His Web site offers a exercise in use of the Faulkes Telescope North at www.ifa.hawaii.edu/users/gruff/default/Faulkes.html.

LCO/Global Telescope Network is an astronomy research and education program developing an array of telescopes in the northern and southern hemispheres to provide remote access to continuous observations of the night sky as the Earth rotates.

Faulkes Telescope (North) at 10,000 feet elevation on Haleakala was the first to be installed and to be put into use by teachers and students in Hawaii and around the globe. A second 2-meter telescope is installed at Siding Spring, Australia, in an observatory at 3,770 feet elevation.

The telescope provides an introduction to the science of astronomy at a level that middle-school youngsters can appreciate, said Mark Cunningham, Iao Middle School science teacher.

“There is a lot of learning from doing and experiencing,” he said.

Members of the Hawaii delegation to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair display the state flag as they await the judging. Travis Le (holding flag on right), 14, of Punahou School, was one of two Hawaii students to take home an award for his study of extrasolar planets. The other was Lucia Mocz, 18, Millilani High School, who placed third in Computer Science and received a $1,000 cash award. (Photo: Le Family)

Rather than teaching out of the textbooks, he said he likes to take his students into the field, including a group taken on a tour of the Faulkes Observatory on the Haleakala summit as a part of their lessons on stars, planets and the elements of the universe.

Cunningham also took several of his students to workshops held this spring by the IfA on use of the Faulkes by teachers and students. The workshops were part of the IfA’s outreach effort to provide science teachers and their students with information on what the Faulkes Telescope and its remote systems can provide.

Any science teacher can provide access to observations by Faulkes on the Internet, through connections handled by the IfA. Students can register for access as well, as can researchers and amateur astronomers in need of observation time.

It’s a learning experience

For First Class Scout Brandon Arisumi and other members of his Troop 49, it was a purely educational experience to be allotted observation time and instructions on how to utilize the imaging powers of Faulkes North.

“The nebulae,” he said. “They were interesting because they are all different colors.”

Nebula are massive clouds of gas, dust and plasma generated by formation and destruction of stars. Arisumi recalled being impressed by images of M-81, Bode’s nebula, a spiral mass in the vicinity of the Big Dipper, and by M-1, the Crab nebula, a gas cloud in the vicinity of the constellations Taurus and Orion.

“We identified the nebulae and we know where to find them,” he said.

There is more to astronomy than passive stargazing. Arisumi participated in IfA workshops where he was introduced to a spectrograph used to identify chemical elements from color variations.

“It was kind of hard to understand,” he said.

Iao student Yap was involved in research as well as the educational components, utilizing observation time on Faulkes for a Science Fair project required by his teacher. His project involved an analysis of the effects of a laser light on objects under observation, utilizing the laser ranging system in place on Haleakala.

“We used the Faulkes with the laser ranging system, to see if a laser would affect the image we were observing,” he said. “They were using the laser to shoot at satellites and we could get them to point the laser to where we would be observing.”

Having been working with lights, Yap said he found the introduction to the spectrograph was informative and interesting.

“I learned about the colors of materials, how the spectrograph uses lights to identify materials. That was cool, fun, a lot of fun,” he said.

Yap’s teacher, Mark Cunningham, said he requires a science project for his class, not because he expects all of his students to go into a science, but to give them a positive introduction to what science offers through project-based learning.

That comes from having students do something in the natural world around them, not just read about it. Whether they are identifying stars at night or the weeds that pop up their yards, he wants his students to be involved in doing science.

“If they have a good experience, it will back up their course work,” he said. “You want the excitement level to get them involved. That’s why they never know what they’re going to be getting into in my class.”

The Faulkes Telescope is among a number of programs supported by MEDB providing opportunities for students to have hands-on experiences that promote their understanding of science, technology, engineering and math.

“I’m really happy with the technology that the kids can get that enhances their learning experience,” he said.

Getting aboard “starship” Faulkes

Initiated as an educational project for students on opposite sides of the world to study the stars from their classroom desks, the Faulkes Telescope Project has expanded into a program for scientific studies of the universe — with a commitment to education.

Maui Boy Scouts in Troop 49 get a first-hand look at the Faulkes Telescope (North) as part of an Astrobiology Workshop as they work towards earning a merit badge in astronomy. (Photo: Rob Ratkowski Photography)

A pair of 2-meter Faulkes Telescopes, on Haleakala and at Siding Spring, Australia, are incorporated into the Las Cumberes Observatory Global Telescope Network, providing a network of remote observatories for continuous views of the night sky as the Earth rotates.

Faulkes Telescope (North) is operated by the University of Hawaii/Institute for Astronomy, based at Maikalani, the Advanced Technology Research Center in Pukalani. Observation time is free to teachers and students, with the IfA staff providing assistance to Hawaii users in registering, applying for observation time and conducting observations over the Internet.

Dr. James “JD” Armstrong, Maui Technology Education and Outreach Specialist, is the coordinator for IfA at Maikalani, at jd@ifa.hawaii.edu; telephone 573-9519.

Paul Coleman, astronomy professor with IfA at UH-Manoa, is the project scientist. Information on access to Faulkes for educational programs also can be found at faulkes-telescope.com or the Las Cumbres Observatory/Global Telescope network site: www.lcogt.net.

The UH Institute for Astronomy also conducts HI STAR, a summer program for middle- and high-school students and their teachers, as well as periodic workshops with instruction on basics of astronomy and observation time and information on using the Faulkes Telescope.

Mary Kadooka, IfA Astronomy Research/Education Specialist, is the coordinator, at kadooka@ifa.hawaii.edu; telephone (808) 956-7954.

Information on IfA programs can be found at www.ifa.hawaii.edu.