About the Subaru Telescope

Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC), mounted at the prime focus of the Subaru Telescope, started serving as a facility instrument for open use in 2014. It offers an ultra-wide field of view equivalent to about nine times the area of the full Moon. Its more than 87 million pixels are provided by 116 highly sensitive CCDs. Researchers have taken advantage of the camera's wide-field capability to survey a variety of astronomical objects, including distant galaxies, and to study the distribution of dark matter in the Universe.

The name "Suprime" in HSC (Hyper Suprime-Cam) is a coined term combining "Subaru" and "Prime," referring to the Subaru Telescope's prime focus. It also alludes to the English word "supreme," meaning "excellent" or "outstanding." The word "Hyper" was added because HSC represents a major advancement over its predecessor, Suprime-Cam, the Subaru Telescope's first prime-focus camera.

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Image of M31 Heralds the Dawn of HSC's Productivity (July 30, 2013)