Haleakala Observatory

The Haleakalā Observatory on the island of Maui, also known as the Haleakalā High Altitude Observatory Site, is the location of Hawaii's first astronomical research observatory. It is owned by the Institute for Astronomy of the University of Hawai'i, which operates some of the facilities on the site and leases portions to other organizations. Tenants include the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGTN). At over 3,050 meters (10,010 ft) in altitude, the summit of Haleakalā is above one third of the Earth's atmosphere and has excellent astronomical seeing conditions.

Facilities

Mees Solar Observatory

The Mees Solar Observatory (MSO) is named after Kenneth Mees and dedicated in 1964. It consists of one dome with multiple instruments sharing a common mount.

Pan-STARRS

The Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) is a planned array of telescopes plus a computing facility that will survey the sky on a continual basis, and provide accurate astrometry and photometry of detected objects. By detecting any differences from previous observations of the same areas of the sky, it is expected to discover a very large number of new asteroids, comets, variable stars and other celestial objects. Currently, the 1.8 m (71 in) PS1 prototype telescope is in operation and the PS2 is under construction.