The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo invites the public to participate in a month-long, virtual open house to learn about the proposed 28-inch educational telescope at Halepōhaku, the mid-level facility on Maunakea. The educational telescope will be available to UH students, faculty and the community and will replace UH Hilo’s Hōkū Keʻa telescope on the summit of Maunakea that is currently being decommissioned.  The telescope replacement is intended to be completed by 2023.

UH Hilo already has the equipment, which is state of the art, for the new site. The equipment was purchased in 2016.  The UH Hilo Educational Telescope is intended for scientific research and to train students on astronomy and modern telescope operations.

The virtual open house runs from today through October 26 and will provide information on the proposed telescope, the proposed site, and a tentative project timeline. It runs for a month giving the public an opportunity to review the information and provide important feedback.

Click on the photo to enlarge it to see the locations of the current and proposed sites for the UH Hilo Educational Telescope.  Click here for access to the virtual open house.  The slide show details the equipment, the site, the timeline, and how to submit comments.