Planets Telescope Foundation

“Expenses wef fees and marketing 5,848 office expense 1,568 bank fees 237 travel 1,867 workshop 1,495 licenses and fees 121 supplies 27 training 20 shipping 77 miscellanous 234 total 11,494”

“Inventories for sale or use 6,794 6,794 telescope constr. In progress 1,556 4,160 total 8,350 10,954”

“The planets foundation's purpose is to advance the knowledge and understanding of exoplanets and solar-planetary bodies in the universe. We accomplish this by conducting research, developing software algorithms and creating new scientific tools and instruments to study these celestial bodies. In addition to our research efforts, we have developed an education and outreach program designed for children, students and general public. This creates an environment where young generation gets excited to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (stem).”

“Research -the planets foundation conducts research on key technologies for designing and improving astrophysical telescopes and remote sensing instruments. The planets foundation also develops observations and detailed models of exo-atmosphere and exoplanet systems by using techniques like polarimetry, spectroscopy and spectropolarimetry. Results of these research and development activities are published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, like astronomy and astrophysics, the astrophysical journal, etc. These journals are the foremost research journals in the world devoted to recent developments, discoveries, and theories in astronomy and astrophysics. Also, the scientific results are widely disseminated to the public via press- releases, foundation website, google hangouts, and public talks.”

“Outreach - astronomy youtube live events on the bi-weekly basis, the planets foundation hosts an online live event where we interact with the public and discuss a variety of astronomy and exoplanetary topics. The purpose of these interactive discussions is to engage the public and share our new research and recent discoveries in the field of exoplanetary science. Our community is able to directly ask questions to the scientists via our youtube live event page and through social media platforms like twitter and facebook. Quite often, new scientific discoveries are difficult for the general public to understand. We tailor these panels to be interesting and easy for the average person interested in space and astronomy. In-person astronomy presentations the planets foundation gives astronomy presentations to a wide range of audiences interested in astronomy and space information. These audiences range from hawaii amateur astronomy groups, school children, and space enthusiast adults. To organize these presentations, we collaborate with organizations such as the institute for astronomy and the maui public school system. Depending on the venue, these presentations are 1-hour in length. During these presentations we discuss our new research findings and techniques as well as explain how we use our science instruments to carry out our research. After each presentation, we dedicate as much time as necessary for the audience to ask questions to the presenter. On average about each video gets 2,800 views. The planets foundation collaborates with astronomy teachers and professors to produce and host educational astronomy content geared towards students in grades 6th - 8th. Our collaborators create digital astronomy content, upload content to a central online repository that can be accessed anywhere via the web, and advise on developing new programs that are engaging for students.”