With the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, the CSO opened up a new window on the universe at wavelengths between 0.3 and 1 mm and paved the way for future observatories at these wavelengths on ground and in space. It suspended operations in 2015 and planning of decommissioning is ongoing.

Operational since 1979, this telescope was created from an agreement between the University of Hawai‘i, the National Research Council in Canada and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France. Several organizations from around the world help to fund this impressive structure that provides high quality images of the universe.

True to its namesake, this observatory is comprised of two telescopes called Gemini North (on Maunakea) and Gemini South (on Cerro Pachon, Chile). They are the most infrared optimized telescopes in ground based astronomy and together they provide complete coverage of the sky.

Originally built to help support the missions of interplanetary space probes, this 3-meter telescope has a range of infrared capabilities. A large fraction of its observations are dedicated to objects in our solar system. The University of Hawai‘i operates this telescope through an agreement with NASA.

This 15-meter telescope is among the largest sub-mm facilities in the world and is used to study cold gas and dust in the Milky Way and distant galaxies. JCMT began operations in 1987 and is now operated by East Asian Observatory under an agreement with UH, who owns this facility.

Operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Subaru Telescope is the only large format (8 m) facility capable of wide field imaging and spectroscopy thanks to its innovative prime focus design. The telescope’s names is the Japanese word for Pleiades – a famous star cluster in the constellation Taurus. In Hawaiian, Subaru is referred to as the constellation Makali‘i.

The SMA observes very short radio waves invisible to the human eye. By using its eight antennas together as one telescope, the SMA makes high-resolution images of objects throughout the universe, including interstellar clouds of dust and molecular gas, which are the precursors of star formation. The SMA is a joint project between the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics.

This telescope is the second largest infrared optimized telescope in the world and is used to create large infrared surveys of the sky, making it among the most scientifically productive telescopes worldwide. Once operated by the Joint Astronomy Center in Hilo, UKIRT is now owned and operated by the University of Hawai‘i.

Keck I and ll are among the largest telescopes in the world. Each of the twin 10-meter telescopes has a primary mirror made up of smaller mirror segments that work together as one large mirror to capture images from space. The telescopes are managed by the California Association for Research in Astronomy, a nonprofit organization.

A teaching tool for the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, this telescope is awaiting deployment off the summit of Maunakea so it can be used for numerous student research and educational projects in the near future. This facility includes an 18-foot dome with a clamshell design that can partially open to shield the telescope from strong winds.

Among the first telescopes to be controlled by a computer, the UH 88” was constructed in 1968 with funding from NASA. It recently underwent a major refurbishment and is about to house an advanced robotic laser adaptive optics system. The UH 88” has also been used to support development of advanced infrared detector technology.

The Maunakea VLBA antenna and 9 others across the US and in the US Virgin Islands comprise a single radio telescope -- the Very Long Baseline Array. The 10 antennas operate in unison, observing distant astronomical objects such as quasars and pulsars. Data collected from these antennas are processed at the operations center in Socorro, New Mexico. The resulting data can be formed into images and spectra that give astronomers an extremely sharp view of the cosmos. The antenna structure is as tall as a 10 story building and the dish reflector is approximately the size of two tennis courts.