Behind every astronomical discovery are the stories and experiences of the people who made it possible. Explore the latest from across the Maunakea Observatories.
STORIES
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Journey Towards Cosmic Dawn
In 2023, the Euclid telescope launched with the ambitious mission of mapping one-third of the night sky. Four Hawaiʻi-based telescopes, including the W.M. Keck Observatory, Subaru Telescope, and Canada-France-Hawaiʻi Telescope on Maunakea and the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy’s Pan-STARRS Telescopes on Haleakalā, are working in collaboration with Euclid to search for the earliest objects in the universe and form a richer picture of the deep sky.
Eyes on the Sky: Subaru Telescope Supports Legacy Survey Of Space and Time
In June, NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory officially began full operations for the 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), one of the world's largest astronomical imaging surveys that takes hundreds of images of the Southern Hemisphere sky each night. Behind the scenes, Japanese researchers and engineers are supporting the project’s software, systems, and operations with technologies and expertise from the development and operation of the Subaru Telescope’s Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC).
A Discovery Rooted in Community: How a Citizen Scientist's Discovery Brings Leilani to the stars
When volunteer citizen scientist Todd Fisher discovered a new asteroid using data from the Subaru Telescope, he had the opportunity to propose a name. He chose Leilani, honoring a Hawaiʻi community that holds deep meaning for his family and preserving its memory in the night sky.
ʻŌnohiʻula: Subaru Telescope’s PFS Instrument Receives Hawaiian Name
The new Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) at the Subaru Telescope on Maunakea was gifted the Hawaiian name ʻŌnohiʻula, officially presented by Dr. Larry Kimura. ʻŌnohiʻula carries multiple layers of meanings — ʻŌnohi communicating how the instrument perceives the cosmos like an eye, and ʻula meaning red, and its association with the sacred realm of origin in Hawaiian culture.
Subaru and Keck Help Discover Two Rare Companions in Distant Solar Systems
As part of the new OASIS program, Subaru Telescope and W.M. Keck Observatory helped discover two rare companions orbiting distant stars — a giant planet, and a brown dwarf that could play a starring role in NASA’s new Roman Space Telescope.