Journey Through the Universe Observes 22 Years
Hawaiʻi Island’s largest astronomy education program, Journey Through the Universe, hosted its 22nd year of classroom visits, career panels, and community events in a fun-filled week, February 2 to 6, 2026 (Spring Journey Week). Throughout the week, 46 volunteer educators from the Maunakea Observatories, NASA, various universities, and more shared stellar hands-on experiences at local schools and inspired over 3,000 students to explore science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) in classrooms ranging from second to 12th grade.
The International Gemini Observatory, a program of NSF NOIRLab, and the Department of Education Hilo-Waiākea Complex Area partner every year to bring the goals of Journey Through the Universe to life, endeavoring to foster curiosity about the universe, create awareness about diverse careers, and share the cutting-edge research and technology taking place on Maunakea.
Spring Journey Week kicked off on January 31 with an exclusive stargazing event co-hosted with the Center for Maunakea Stewardship at Hale Pōhaku for Hilo-Waiākea teachers, students, and families. The evening opened with traditional Hawaiian protocol for entering sacred space led by Leilehua Yuen, Hawaiʻi Culture and Language Resident at Gemini. While the Moon rose over nearby puʻu, attendees peered through telescopes and listened to a variety of star stories told by Yuen and Dr. Jacelle Ramon-Sauberon, Education Liaison at Kitt Peak National Observatory.
“Creating safe and engaging spaces for ʻohana to immerse themselves in cultural and scientific learning is critical to our work at Gemini,” said Leinani Lozi, Hawaiʻi Education and Engagement Manager at Gemini. “For some keiki and makua, this is their first time seeing the details in the craters of the Moon. For others, this is the first they hear the story of ʻIole saving Makahiki. And for nearly all of us, it was the first time we learned the Tohono Oʻodham story of Coyote creating the Milky Way.”
On Monday, February 2, Spring Journey Week began in earnest with classroom visits and career panels at 13 Hilo-Waiākea public schools. Sage Constantinou, PhD student at the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy and Waiākea High School alumni, visited a classroom of 4th graders at Waiākeawaena Elementary and taught students about spectroscopy and rainbows. Later that evening, the Journey Welcome Reception, co-hosted by the Hawaiʻi Island Chamber of Commerce and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hawaiʻi, was held at the Gemini Hilo Base Facility.
On Tuesday, February 3, Justine Schean, Arizona Education and Engagement Manager at NOIRLab, taught keiki how to build their own little robots with paper clips and batteries at De Silva Elementary. The activity highlighted the extensive amount of engineering and technical skills needed at ground-based observatories but also emphasized the complexity of controlling unmanned rovers on other planets.
On Wednesday, February 4, ʻImiloa Astronomy Center hosted a special screening of the locally produced planetarium show “Messengers of Time and Space.” This film explores the scientific synergies between traditional astronomy, observing the electromagnetic spectrum with telescopes like those on Maunakea, and multi-messenger astronomy, which utilizes “invisible messengers” like gravitational waves observed by LIGO. The screening was followed by a panel conversation discussing the show and the future of astronomy with Devin Chu, astronomer in residence at ʻImiloa; Peter Michaud, director of Messengers of Space and Time; and Atsuko Nitta, head of science operations at Gemini North Telescope.
“We’re very excited to support the Journey program this year,” said Devin. “Journey helped foster my career in astronomy as a student at Hilo High, and I’m honored to contribute to its ongoing legacy.”
This year’s Journey Through the Universe program hosted not only the Spring Journey Week but also, for the first time ever, included a Fall Journey Week that took place from October 20 to 24, 2025. Another exciting first for the 22nd iteration of this program will include field trips for high school students to the Gemini North Telescope on Maunakea in March and April of 2026.
Click here to read the original press release.
