News

"How does your galaxy grow? Quite contrary to a typical galaxy, this one needs water to flourish. Pictured ... as it appears at the Paleaku Peace Gardens Sanctuary in Kona, Hawaii, USA, a meticulously planned garden spanning about 30 meters provides a relatively accurate map of our Milky Way Galaxy. Different plants depict stars, globular clusters, and even nebulas. Many bright stars visible in Earth's night sky are depicted on leaves surrounding the marked location of the Sun. Plant rows were placed to represent arms of our Galaxy, including the Sun's Orion Arm, the impressive Sagittarius Arm, and the little discussed Norma Arm. A small bar runs through our Galaxy's center, while a fountain has been built to represent the central black hole. What a stellar use of space!"

Astronomy Picture of the Day - January 18, 2011

"The Living Galaxy" astronomy program at Paleaku Peace Gardens hosts Dr. Chris Purton, a professional radio astronomer from Canada. He will share his knowledge after 30 years as a teacher and researcher for some of the top astronomy centers in the world. Dr. Purton's specialty was the extensive mapping of the Milky Way. The program will begin in the Visitor Center with an orientation talk. It will be followed by a walking tour of the "Living Galaxy". The galaxy garden is a 100 ft. replica of our Milky Way Galaxy mapped in rare hibiscus and flowering plants. A slide show of the latest astronomical discoveries will then be presented.

"The Milky Way is our galaxy seen from the inside, where we live. It's not easy figuring out what our Galaxy would look like from the outside. The effort to do that spans many centuries of research. With our eyes we can see a thousand or more light years into the depths of the Milky Way, but the entire system is a hundred thousand light years across. This talk outlines the history of coming to understand what our Galaxy is like. It is a continuing process, and some major additions have been incorporated quite recently."

The program will be presented on February 15 and 16 at 3pm and on February 17 and 18 at 10 am for a $5 admission fee. Paleaku Botanical Peace Gardens are located at 83-5401 Painted Church Rd. Call 328-8084 or visit their web site: www.paleaku.com

On Saturday, February 21st at 2:00 PM at the Kailua-Kona Library, Jon Lomberg will be presenting a program titled "My Work with Carl Sagan". Mr. Lomberg's 25 year collaboration with Sagan included the TV series COSMOS and NASA's legendary Voyager Golden Record. He is an Emmy award winning television art director, Smithsonian Institution muralist, lecturer and stargazing guide, regularly presenting his program at the Kona Village Resort. Come stimulate your imagination and listen to a speaker who "unlocks the door to cosmic awareness".

Sponsored by Friends of the Libraries, Kona, a non-profit organization, this program is offered as a community service. The Public is welcome.

The Galaxy Forum Hawaii - Kona, the first of its kind in Hawaii, was an exciting and successful event. Onizuka Space Center Curator Nancy Tashima opened the doors to the community for the event, which attracted about 30 people and filled the theater to capacity.

Presenters included Jon Lomberg on "The Galaxy Garden as a Model for Galaxy Education".

For more information visit the Galaxy Forums on the International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA) website.

Read the latest Galaxy Garden Update.

"How can one explain the vastness of the Milky Way galaxy so that people comprehend its large size and scale? This is a question that artist Jon Lomberg pondered after he painted a portrait of the Milky Way for the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) in Washington, D.C."

...Read more.

Read the latest Galaxy Garden Update.

To view this excellent video, go to www.bigislandtv.com, click on the "Big Island Videos" button, select "Features" on the main menu, and then "Galaxy Garden" on the features menu.

"You never know what you are going to find on the Big Island. How about the galaxy as greenery?

Honaunau resident Jon Lomberg is America's leading space artist. His painting of our Milky Way Galaxy hangs in the Smithsonian. He was the artistic partner of the late Carl Sagan, illustrating Sagan's books and his television series, "Cosmos," for which Lomberg won an Emmy."

...Read more

"There is a galaxy on Hawaii. Not an actual galaxy, of course, as a typical island of stars contains many billions of suns and spans hundreds of thousands of light years. The galaxy residing on the largest of that particular chain of Pacific islands is a 100-foot wide living representation of the vast stellar realm our planet and humanity dwells in, the Milky Way."

...Read more.

"Captain Cook, Hawaii/EWORLDWIRE/Sep. 27, 2007 --- The Galaxy Garden, the world's first walk-through model of the Milky Way Galaxy, will open to the public on Oct. 21, 2007. Located on the Big Island of Hawaii, this 100-foot diameter garden accurately maps the galaxy using almost 1000 carefully selected plants to represent actual stars and nebulae. The centerpiece of the model is a unique fountain that represents the giant black hole at our galaxy's center."

...Read more.

"Astronomy artist Jon Lomberg has mapped the Milky Way in flowers at the Paleaku Astronomy Center in Captain Cook in west Hawaii. The Grand Opening of the Galaxy Garden was well attended by nearly a hundred people, including representatives from many of the observatories. Subaru Telescope Director Masa Hayashi and family, Gemini Observatory astronomer Tom Geballe, Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Director of Science Operations Pierre Martin, Keck Observatory Director Taft Armandroff and Director of Advancement Debbie Goodwin."

...Read more.