The Subaru Telescope
Explanation:
Last week, Japan's new
Subaru Telescope
made its first observations of the sky.
The gray building housing Subaru is
visible just left of the white
Keck domes near the photo's center.
Subaru is the latest in the
class of optical telescopes
using a mirror with a diameter greater than 8 meters.
Subaru's 8.3-meter primary is the
largest single-piece optical telescope mirror yet made,
and is so thin that its precise shape can be monitored and adjusted.
Subaru will be owned and operated by
Japan
but located at the top of
Hawaii's
Mauna Kea,
a dormant volcano famous for housing several of the
world's
leading telescopes.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
