HILO, Hawaii — The public is invited to review and comment on the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s Draft Environmental Assessment to locate the school’s 28-inch educational telescope at Halepōhaku at the 9,300-foot level of Maunakea.

What You Need To Know

  • The public is invited to review and comment on UH Hilo’s Draft Environmental Assessment for the school’s new educational telescope to be located at Halepōhaku (9,300 feet), the same area as the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy

  • On Oct. 5 at 5:30-7 p.m., there will be an open house for the public to learn about the facility

  • The DEA, other detailed information and the form to comment are available at UH Hilo’s Virtual Open House for the New Educational Telescope Facility Environmental Assessment website

  • Comment deadline is Oct. 24

According to a news release, the teaching telescope will be housed in a 14-foot high, 18-foot diameter dome placed on a wooden deck that will connect to an existing building. The dome and deck will need to be constructed.

Because the proposed astronomy facility will be within a state conservation district and also utilizing state land and funds, the Hawaii Board of Land and Natural Resources requires the DEA. The DEA anticipates a finding of no significant impact.

The public can review the DEA, a project map, anticipated impacts, project benefits and provide comments at the UH Hilo’s Virtual Open House for the New Educational Telescope Facility Environmental Assessment website. The deadline for comments is Oct. 24.

“We hope our local community takes some time to learn more about the teaching telescope and how it will benefit not only UH Hilo students, but the entire island,” said UH Hilo Chancellor Bonnie Irwin in the release. “I am especially excited for the programming ideas that we have for the community at large to utilize the telescope.”

The public is also invited to learn more about the project at an open house, 5:30-7 p.m. Oct. 5, on the first floor of the Science and Technology Building on the UH Hilo campus. UH Hilo astronomy faculty and SSFM International Inc. will offer presentations, with SSFM discussing its findings listed in the DEA. Topics will include proposed educational programs, such as culture-based STEM curriculum courses for local elementary, middle and high school students, along with research opportunities for UH Hilo students. The public can also see the telescope that will be used in the new facility.

UH Hilo’s current observatory site, Hōkū Ke‘a, sits on the summit of Maunakea alongside 13 other telescopes in 12 facilities operated by astronomers from 11 countries. According to the UH Hilo Educational Telescope website, Hōkū Ke‘a was built in the 1960s by the U.S. Air Force and NASA, then later transferred to the University of Hawaii in 1970. In 2003, it was transferred to UH Hilo.

The Caltech Submillimeter Observatory ceased operations in 2015 and will be the first observatory to be removed under the 2010 Decommissioning Plan for the Maunakea Observatories. In August of this year, the CSO had announced it had received permits from the County of Hawaii and State of Hawaii to begin the physical deconstruction.

Both observatories are scheduled for decommissioning by 2023 in order to reduce human footprint on the mauna (mountain), an area sacred to the Native Hawaiian community.

Sarah Yamanaka covers events, environmental and community news for Spectrum News Hawaii.