Astronomy on Tap Hawai’i – 7th August 2025

Come join us for Astronomy on Tap on Thursday, August 7th from 7–9 pm at Hilo Town Tavern! This month, we’re joined by Subaru Telescope astronomers Ian Padgett and Kumiko Usuda-Sato for an evening of cosmic insights, fun games, food & drinks, and lively conversation.

Ian Padgett:
Mauna Kea gives us one of the most unique views of our night sky and the world. I have had the honor and privilege to work and live on Mauna Kea. It is my goal to be able to share this experience and give you a view into our night sky. In my talk, I will explain a little of what I do as a night operator for Subaru telescope, show the specular sights that I have been able to capture, and give some context to what we are actually looking at when we peer up at our home in the cosmos.

Ian Padgett is the Night Operator at the Subaru Telescope on Mauna Kea. His journey into astronomy began at 14, when he first glimpsed Saturn’s rings through a small backyard telescope, the moment that started his journey to where he is today. In 2019, he
moved to Hawaiʻi to study astrophysics at UH Mānoa. There he worked on research in cosmology, focusing on strong gravitational lenses and the evolution of large galaxy structures. A visit to Mauna Kea during his undergraduate years inspired him to pursue
working atop with the observatories. Now, working with a telescope a bit larger than the 11” one he started with, he is passionate about sharing the wonder of the night sky with
others. Coming from a family of artist’s, Ian’s chosen art is his photography where he captures his views from his journey, most recently the night sky from Mauna Kea.

Kumiko Usuda-Sato:
Tanabata is a Japanese star festival based on a legend about the annual reunion of two star-crossed lovers – a weaving princess named Orihime and a cowherd named Hikoboshi. They are separated on opposite sides of Amanogawa, the heavenly river (Milky Way). In my talk, I will present the Tanabata legend, including an announcement of the Maunakea
Observatories Tanabata Block Party on Saturday, August 30. I also connect the Amanogawa river, a fuzzy light band in night skies, with the Milky Way Galaxy, our own galaxy.

Kumiko Usuda-Sato is a Japanese astronomer. From 1998 to 2013, she had lived in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawai‘i and had extensive outreach activities at Subaru Telescope. After working at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) in Tokyo, Japan, for eight years, she returned to Hilo in late August 2021 to work at Subaru Telescope as a public outreach specialist. She is a project coordinator of GALAXY CRUISE, NAOJ’s citizen science project, and engages the general public to classify many galaxies captured by the Subaru Telescope. She also enjoys “touching” the Universe with blind and visually impaired (BVI) people using tactile models of the Subaru Telescope and celestial bodies created with
a 3D printer. One of her leading projects in the local community is the annual Maunakea Coin Contest by the Maunakea Observatories for K-12 students on the Big Island.