‘Wenaokeao’: Big Island students name Maunakea observatory instruments after starlight

A pair of instruments at a Maunakea observatory have been given a less unwieldy name by a group of Big Island high school students.

The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope has combined a pair of spectrographic instruments in order to more effectively observe the universe. Those two instruments each have a mouthful of a name: ESPaDOnS (which stands for Echelle SpecrtroPolarimetric Device for the Observation of Stars at CFHT) and SPIRou (or, the Spectropolarimètre Infrarouge).

Through a program by the University of Hilo at Hawaii, the combined instruments have been given the name “Wenaokeao,” meaning “earliest glow of light,” by students from the charter school Ke Kula ‘o Nawahiokalani‘opu‘u.

“‘Wena’ references the colors seen in the morning sunrise. ‘Ao’ is the entire world that we see and all of the colors in it. These combined meanings correlate with the instrument because the instrument helps to observe the colors of light emitting from stars,” said senior Tinai Liusa in a translated statement.

The joint instruments of Wenaokeao allow astronomers to detect magnetic fields and planets around distant stars simultaneously and in a larger wavelength.

The students were involved in the naming process through UH-Hilo’s A Hua He Inoa program in partnership with the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center. The program is an effort at blending astronomy with Hawaiian indigenous culture, and has previously named celestial objects such as Powehi, the first black hole ever to be imaged, and ‘Oumuamua, the first-discovered interstellar object.

Students chose the name after extensive research and a visit to CFHT on Maunakea summit. They were also advised by Larry, Kimura, the UH-Hilo associate professor of Hawaiian language and Hawaiian studies who named the aforementioned Powehi and ‘Oumuamua.

“I think it’s just a wonderful opportunity for the students to practice cultural naming and then for us at the observatories it’s such an honor to be able to be gifted with a name,” said Mary Beth Laychak, Director of Communications and Community Engagement at CFHT, in a statement.