What is the Subaru Telescope?
The Subaru Telescope is a very large optical infrared telescope installed near the summit of Maunakea, Hawai‘i, USA. Subaru’s primary mirror’s aperture is 8.2 meters, making it one of the largest monolithic mirrors in the world. Its powerful light collecting capability can capture weak light from celestial objects. A major feature of the Subaru Telescope is that its prime focus boasts an overwhelming wide field of view compared to other large telescopes. Various measures have been taken to capture a sharp astronomical image from the collected light, such as a high-performance adaptive optics system. In addition, the high resolution of the Subaru Telescope is highly regarded among the world’s large telescopes. It can be said that this performance was realized by choosing the location carefully and making full use of the latest technology.

Specifications
Location | Summit of Maunakea on the Island of Hawai‘i, the United States of America (at an altitude of 4139 meters) |
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Prime manufacturer | Mitsubishi Electric Corporation |
Effective aperture of primary mirror | 8.2 meters |
Main observation instruments | Prime focus instruments: Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) Nasmyth focus instruments (visible light): High Dispersion Spectrograph (HDS) Nasmyth focus instruments (Infrared): Infrared Camera and Spectrograph (IRCS) and 188-element Adaptive Optics (AO) System Cassegrain focus instruments: Multi-Object Infrared Camera and Spectrograph (MOIRCS), Cooled Mid-Infrared Camera and Spectrometer (COMICS), and Faint Object Camera And Spectrograph (FOCAS) |
Characteristics | The Subaru Telescope has four foci including the prime focus, Cassegrain focus, and two Nasmyth foci. Among the 8-meter class telescopes in the world, only the Subaru Telescope is capable of mounting an instrument at the prime focus. |
History
April 1991 | The Japan National Large Telescope plan officially started. Construction of the Subaru Telescope started. NAOJ started production of the primary mirror and began overall design. NAOJ asked people from all over Japan to submit names for the telescope. |
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January 1999 | The Subaru Telescope started test observation (first light). |
December 2000 | Common use began for the Subaru Telescope. |
February 2006 | Multi-Object InfraRed Camera and Spectrograph (MOIRCS) started operation. |
November 2006 | Laser guide star adaptive optics system started operation (first light). |
November 2010 | Fiber Multi-Object Spectrograph (FMOS) first light. |
July 2013 | Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) first light. |
Related Project
Main Research Results
- Ancient Eye in the Sky
- A Violent Wind Blown from the Heart of a Galaxy Tells the Tale of a Merger
- Dark Matter Map Begins to Reveal the Universe’s Early History
- Subaru Telescope Detects Sudden Appearance of Galaxies in the Early Universe
- A Chemical Signature of First-Generation Very-Massive Stars
- Subaru Telescope’s Imaging Discovery of a Second Jupiter Shows the Power and Significance of the SEEDS Project