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
UH Telescope on Maunakea Earns Global Honor
By University of Hawaiʻi News
The University of Hawaiʻi’s 2.2-meter (88 inch) telescope on Maunakea has been recognized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) as an IEEE Milestone, a significant honor spotlighting innovations that changed the world. Innovations developed or tested by the UH88 have shaped astronomy worldwide and include breakthrough digital imaging, adaptive optics and the HAWAII near-infrared detectors used on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
Canada-France-Hawaiʻi Telescope’s MegaCam Helps Discover 128 New Saturnian Moons
The Canada-France-Hawaiʻi Telescope (CFHT) played an integral role in discovering 128 new moons of Saturn, which were recognized by the International Astronomical Union on March 11, 2025. CFHT was able to collect this data thanks to MegaCam, a wide-field-of-view imager. Dr. Heather Flewelling, a CFHT instrument scientist, provided a behind-the-scenes look at the technology and process behind the discovery.
New CFHT-Asahi StarCam Brings Live Views of Maunakea to the World
Since 2021, the Subaru-Asahi StarCam has provided a 24/7 livestream of the eastern side of Maunakea for viewers. Now, a new livestream is offering an additional view from the new CFHT-Asahi StarCam thanks to a partnership between the Canada-France-Hawaiʻi Telescope (CFHT) and Asahi Shimbun.
Subaru Telescope’s New Compound Eye to Start Exploring the Universe in February
The Subaru Telescope studies objects that are relatively close together in the distant universe, and it is enhancing its capabilities with a new instrument called the Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS). The PFS is a powerful compound eye that allows the telescope to simultaneously observe 2,400 celestial bodies with 2,400 prisms scattered across the telescope's ultra-wide field of view.
Nānā ao: Maunakea Observatories’ New Instrument
Nānā ao, “watcher of clouds” in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian), is a new instrument that will be shared by the Maunakea observatories to facilitate the detection of oncoming banks of clouds by our nighttime observers.