Maui Teens and UH Astronomer Featured in Xploration Awesome Planet TV Show – Maui Now

May 14, 2021, 11:14 AM HST * Updated May 17, 5:53 AM

University of Hawaiiastronomer J.D. Armstrong and three Maui teens he mentors will be featured on an episode of the award-winning science program Xploration Awesome Planet. The episode airs May 15 at 2:30 pm on KHON.

The Earth science series, which airs on FOX channels nationwide, will showcase Maui students Wilson Chau, Holden Suzuki and Jed Teagarden, who are part of UH Institute for Astronomys mentorship program,HI STAR(Hawaii Student/Teacher Astronomy Research).

Xploration Awesome Planet is hosted by legendary explorer Jacques Cousteaus grandson, Philippe Cousteau.

Armstrong, and education and outreach specialist who is based on Maui, mentors intermediate and high school students. They are given access to observational data from telescopes on Haleakal, such as theLas Cumbres Observatory Faulkes Telescope North,Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert Systemand UHsPAN-STARRS, the worlds leading Near Earth Object (NEO) discovery telescope.

The students Im working with do some pretty amazing work, Armstrong said. Take this situation as an example. An object was detected that was going to impact the earth, and I called these guys. It might bother some people to think that the safety of the world might end up in the hands of some teenagers, but it shouldnt. They know what they are doing.

Observational data has led HI STAR students to make cutting-edge discoveries including apotentially hazardous NEO. Chau and Suzuki netted national headlines in 2020 after they helped scientists determinea 1,070-pound space satellite would break upover the South Pacific. Teagarden, 15, who earned top honors for his research on a comet-like asteroid, and co-authored more than a dozenMinor Planet Centercirculars.

HI STAR has mentored more than 100 students in Hawaii. Many have gone on to pursue careers in astronomy and physics. Armstrongs students are regular winners in the Hawaii State Science and Engineering Fair and have competed in events at the international level.

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Maui Teens and UH Astronomer Featured in Xploration Awesome Planet TV Show - Maui Now