Imiloa Planetarium

The island of Hawaii is an ideal location for observatories. The mountains (volcanoes actually) are very tall 12,000 feet and with a small population mostly living near water level, the light pollution is limited. We didn’t go to the observatories. Yes there are tours that will drive you most of the way up, but based on my Ecuador experience and altitude sickness I wasn’t going to try it again.
Instead we visited the Imiloa observatory located on the University of Hawaii, Hilo campus. Sitting in the planetarium looking at distance galaxy’s and nebula reminds me how small we really are. A couple of the shows talked about how different cultures viewed and named the same star constellations and made the shapes match their own origin stories. Obvious, but something I never thought of.
We wrapped up with dinner at the restaurant connected to the observatory. One of the best meals we have had. Yummy and I had fish!!Read more