St Joseph Country Fair 2005
The VIS offered pictures of planets, stars and space shuttles for the kids to color Subaru Telescope provided activities that included paper cutout models of the telescope Hiroko sharing information with young astronomers at the CSO booth
Saint Joseph Country Fair, October 8, 2005
The astronomy community came together for a joint presence at the St Joseph Country Fair. The Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO), Subaru Telescope, Visitor Information Station (VIS), Gemini Observatory, UH Hilo Physics and Astronomy Department and the UH Institute for Astronomy shared a 20' x 40' canopy tent under partially cloudy skies. The astronomy tent was placed between a kettle corn vendor and the barbecue pit - somewhat torturous as wafts of aromatic fragrance from both would sweep constantly through our booth (I was starting to get hungry before 9:00).

The VIS had informational brochures, picture coloring and displays and a mirror grinding station, while CSO brought demonstration models and information bringing attention to preserving a radio free zone for observational astronomy in certain frequencies. The Subaru Telescope offered paper cutout models of the 8.2 meter telescope, and the Gemini Observatory brought a computer kiosk with their new Virtual Tour software, and their very popular StarLab planetarium. The University of Hawaii Physics and Astronomy Department brought program brochures and a turntable and bicycle wheel to demonstrate angular momentum. The UH Institute for Astronomy brought an infrared camera to share views of people (and pet birds) at 10 micron wavelength of light, and a telescope was set up for views of the sun and Venus.

In all, this year's St Joseph Country Fair was a wonderful opportunity to share information about astronomy with the general public.

Mahalo to Subaru Telescope, Gemini Observatory, Caltech Submillimeter Observatory, Visitor Information Station, UHH Physics and Astronomy and UH Institute for Astronomy
Anne Michels holding down the fort at the VIS booth
Ben Berkey sharing views of our favorite neighborhood star with a little fan
Koa Ell showing a youngster what she looks like in the infrared