Mitsubishi Electric delivers focus unit to telescope

The prime focus unit, a major component of the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) prime focus camera newly installed in the Subaru Telescope on the Big Island of Hawaii, was delivered by Mitsubishi Electric Corp. to the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) of the National Institutes of Natural Sciences. The HSC’s upgrade with the prime focus unit will enable the Subaru Telescope to observe dark energy and dark matter with unprecedented accuracy, Mitsubishi said. Astronomers are working to determine the characteristics of dark matter and dark energy, which are considered crucial to understanding the origin and evolution of the universe. The prime focus unit helps to accurately maneuver the camera and wide-field corrector lens.

National Astronomical Observatory of Japan