Brighten Tantisira, a King Kekaulike High School alumnus, recently wrote and graphically designed a book, Why Look Up? An Introduction to Our Fascinating Universe for Young Students and Novices. Tantisira is a former Maui Economic Development Board (MEDB) STEMworks™ intern who worked with the UH Institute for Astronomy (IfA) last year. While interning at IfA, he experienced a fascinating branch of science not offered in his high school curriculum and published a peer-reviewed paper, “Consistency and Precision Measurements of Seven Double Stars,” in the Journal of Double Star Observations. He also felt compelled to write a non-fiction astronomy book geared towards elementary and middle school students. 

“I chose this age group because I wanted to inspire the next generation about this amazing field,” Tantisira explained. “However, novices of all ages can benefit just as much by reading my book. The book covers various topics, including stars, moons, galaxies, exoplanets, nebulae, protostars, star clusters, galaxy clusters, supernovae, and why we study all of them. By the end, you’ll have a strong foundational understanding of the most captivating astronomical objects and phenomena in our universe.”   

In Why Look Up?, Tantisira stimulates curiosity about our fascinating universe through careful explanations and engaging images, including original photos. “With permission to use them in my book, I obtained my astronomical photos through the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network by programming observations into their portal,” Tantisira recalled. “My experience at IfA is what inspired me to create an astronomy book introducing this field in a simple and entertaining way to young audiences who might not otherwise have the opportunity to learn about the cosmos.” He added, “Being able to intern at the IfA through the MEDB STEMworks Internship program was a one-of-a-kind opportunity. I not only learned about the fascinating field of astronomy, I also attained new insights about careers in the field, such as monitoring asteroids near our Earth for safety reasons. My internship also exposed me to the importance of the scientific method and provided me with a strong introduction to astronomy and its techniques. Basically, I learned what scientific research is all about, and I hope to major in astronomy, or something along this line.”