Facilities
INSTITUTE FOR ASTRONOMY
During the last thirty years, the state of Hawai‘i has become the most sought-after location in the world for the construction of large ground-based telescopes. The focal points for this construction are the 3,000-meter peak of Haleakalā on Maui and the 4,200-meter peak of Maunakea on the island of Hawai‘i (the “Big Island”). The remarkable clarity, dryness, and stillness of the air above these isolated high-altitude sites led to the commissioning by the University of Hawai‘i first of the Mees Solar Observatory at Haleakalā on the island of Maui in 1963 and then of the 2.2-meter Telescope on Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawai‘i in 1970.
Our locations
IfA Manoa
Although they primarily observe from Mauna Kea or Haleakalā , most UH astronomers are based at the IfA headquarters building in the part of Honolulu known as Mānoa Valley, near the main campus of the University of Hawai‘i on the island of O‘ahu.
IfA Maui
On Maui, the IfA operates the Advanced Technology Research Center, for support of its Haleakalā activities. The building includes laboratory workspace for microfabrication and advanced metrology, and optical/infrared sensor development.
IfA Hilo
A sea-level facility in Hilo on the island of Hawai‘i houses part of the IfA’s faculty and staff, with an emphasis on the support of Maunakea telescope operations. It also houses research groups involved in the development of adaptive optics and infrared detectors.
Observatories
Big Island
Maunakea
UH88, UKIRT, IRTF, MKSS
Maui
Haleakalā
PS, ATLAS, Mees, Solar C
Big Island