The Haleakalā Observatory, also known as the Haleakalā High Altitude Observatory Site, is Hawaii's first astronomical research observatory. It is located on the island of Maui and is owned by the Institute for Astronomy of the University of Hawaiʻi, 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 3050 m in elevation, the summit of Haleakalā is above one third of the Earth's troposphere 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 pair of telescopes plus a computing facility that surveys the sky on a continual basis, providing accurate astrometry and photometry of detected objects. By detecting any differences from previous observations of the same areas of the sky, it has discovered over 5,700 new asteroids, comets, variable stars and other celestial objects. Currently, the 1.8 m PS1 telescope is in operation and the PS2 is in its commissioning phase.

Faulkes Telescope North

The Faulkes Telescope North, part of the Faulkes Telescope Project, is a 2.0 m reflecting telescope owned and operated by the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network. It provides remote access to a research-quality telescope primarily to students in the United Kingdom.

TLRS-4 Laser Ranging System

The TLRS-4 Laser Ranging System is part of the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS), which provides satellite laser ranging and lunar laser ranging data. The TLRS-4 replaced an older facility in order to provide continuity of data. The old facility now houses telescopes of the Pan-STARRS project.

Zodiacal Light Observatory

The Zodiacal Light Observatory currently consists of two instruments. The Scatter-free Observatory for Limb Active Regions and Coronae (SOLARC or SOLAR-C) telescope is a 0.5 m off-axis reflecting coronagraph that is used to study the Sun's corona. The Day-Night Seeing Monitor Telescope System (DNSM) makes telescope-independent observations of perturbations in the atmosphere above Haleakala.

Maui Space Surveillance Complex

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) operates the Maui Space Surveillance Complex (MSSC), which is part of the Air Force Maui Optical and Supercomputing Site (AMOS). Located at the MSSC are the 3.67 m Advanced Electro Optical System Telescope (AEOS), the Maui Space Surveillance System (MSSS), and the Ground-based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance (GEODSS). The MSSS uses a number of optical assets, including a 1.6 m telescope, two 1.2 m telescopes on a common mount, a 0.8 m beam director/tracker, and a 0.6 m laser beam director. The GEODSS uses two 1.0 m telescopes and one 0.38 m telescope.

Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope

The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) is a 4.0 m solar telescope of the National Solar Observatory.

Future facilities

Former facilities

Non-astronomical facilities

Gallery