Hilo received a National Science Foundation grant to fund major research instrumentation for the Hoku Kea Telescope atop Mauna Kea. Funded through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009, the award totals $141,664 over a three-year period.

"We're delighted that NSF has awarded us this grant," says Hilo Professor Principal Investigator David James.

"This project is an important part of our plan to transform the physics and astronomy department from the traditional lecture-based community college model to a research-based, professional, modern academic teaching and research group."

The project, entitled MRI Acquisition: Hawaii-based Undergraduate Leadership in Astronomy by Acquiring Instrumentation For an Educational 1m-Class Telescope, involves the design, construction and commission of a new digital optical camera and a spectrograph which will be used to analyze the light from stars.

"This brings us one step closer to fulfillment of our vision when the 24-inch telescope was retired," says Hilo Professor and Co-Principal Investigator William Heacox.

"The addition of these new instruments will set the stage for faculty and students to engage in the kind of nuts and bolts astronomy research and publishing opportunities that will take this program to the next level.