President Steven convened the meeting right at 7 am. After the Pledge of Allegiance, Alan Okinaka delivered the inspiration.  He announced that the planning for Oktober Fest was progressing smoothly and restated the request for Rotarians to donate $100 in prizes and or gifts for the silent auction. Sharon Scheele announced that there were only three tickets for Junior Achievement Hall of Fame banquet at $120 each. Please contact Sharon to reserve the remaining seats and to arrange for payment. Tim Hansen announced that there would be a workday at the Queen Liliuokalani Gardens on Saturday, August 24th starting at 8 am and ending at noon to rebuild some of the stone walls, thin bamboo and other activities. Tim pointed out that the Gardens received a grant from Hilo Bay Rotary a few months ago. He then circulated a signup sheet.

 

President Steven introduced his father, Anthony Sylvester who was the second generation of Sylvester's working on Mauna Kea. Since Anthony was well known to some of the members, we heard a number of comments about his son’s face painting and about Anthony's parents commitment to 4H on the Big Island. President Steven also got a zinger in about his brother Anthony  who is now the third generation working on Mauna Kea and his need to produce a four generation of Sylvesters working on the mountain.

 

After all of this banter was over, Anthony started to explain what radio astronomy is, how it uses band width to measure everything from continental drift, sea level rise, the location of satellites, to examining black holes, the expansion of the universe, and so much more. Three radio telescope arrays located here, in New Mexico and West Virginia form one immense instrument through exacting synchronization. 

 

If you want more information, please refer to the Very Long Baseline Array handout. Just remember, if you get lost in the subject, it is just FM!