Hawaiian language interns participating in ʻImiloa's A Hua He Inoa program have named a new project at Canada-France-Hawaiʻi Telescope on Maunakea using ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi.
Previously known as “Vision,” the project combines existing instruments to expand scientific capabilities.
The project’s new name, Wenaokeao, meaning “earliest glow of light,” was given after extensive research by the high school haumāna (students) from Ke Kula ʻo Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu.
The name describes the soft glow of the rising Sun seen during the fleeting moments when the full Moon lowers on the horizon, just before dawn breaks.
Students chose the name after they visited CFHT on the summit of Maunakea, and were also advised by Larry Kimura, an associate professor of Hawaiian language and Hawaiian studies at UH Hilo.
The CFHT upgrade will allow astronomers to detect magnetic fields and planets around distant stars in a larger wavelength simultaneously.