In Fiscal Year 2024, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Subaru Telescope with a variety of events held across Japan and in Hilo, Hawai`i, where our base facility is located. Here is a look back at some of the highlights from this special year.
Commemorative Logo and Special Website Design
To mark this milestone, we created a 25th anniversary logo and launched a special edition of the Subaru Telescope website with a commemorative design.
Figure 1: The special web design of the Subaru Telescope Top Page celebrating its 25th anniversary. The bright star to the left of the logo is Vega, located 25 light-years away from us. The light emitted from Vega when the Subaru Telescope celebrated its first light reached Earth in 2024. (Credit: NAOJ)
Production of a Commemorative Video
We produced a video titled "The Subaru Telescope in Hawai`i -25 Years of Achievements and Beyond-," which highlights the telescope’s achievements and shares our vision for the future.
Movie: The Subaru Telescope in Hawai`i -25 Years of Achievements and Beyond- (Credit: NAOJ)
Special Exhibition in Mitaka City
From July 5 to August 25, 2024, we held a special 25th anniversary exhibition at the Astronomy and Science Information Space in Mitaka, Tokyo. Many visitors joined us to learn about the Subaru Telescope’s history and its discoveries.
Tanabata Block Party in Hilo
On August 17, 2024 (Hawai`i time), the Maunakea Astronomy Outreach Committee hosted the first annual "Tanabata Block Party" at the Maunakea Observatories’ base facilities in Hilo. The event celebrated both the Subaru Telescope and the Gemini North Telescope’s 25th anniversaries. The Tanabata Block Party was an excellent opportunity to showcase our workplace and who we are, and also to express our "mahalo" (appreciation) to the local community for its continuous support.
Figure 3: The nearly life-size poster of HSC (left). The big "Mahalo" ("Thank you" in the Hawaiian language) poster welcomed participants at the lobby of the Subaru Telescope Base Facility (right). (Credit: NAOJ)
JointProject with the Japan Planetarium Association (JPA)
In collaboration with the Japan Planetarium Association, we organized a nationwide online lecture event to celebrate the "Centennial of the Planetarium" and the "25th Anniversary of the Subaru Telescope." On October 18 (Hawai`i time, which is October 19 Japan time), we connected the Hilo Base Facility with 25 planetaria and science facilities across Japan and celebrated our 25th anniversary with a total of 1,900 participants.
From November 2024 to March 2025, a nationwide collaborative lecture series took place at ten planetaria and science facilities across Japan. Scientists presented their work with the Subaru Telescope, either in person or online, to celebrate the anniversary with the audience.
Publication of an Image Collection
We published an image collection (in Japanese) titled "25 Years of Cosmic Discovery with the Subaru Telescope," in collaboration with Crevis inc. The volume features stunning astronomical images, especially those captured using Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC), a gigantic digital camera with a wide field of view. Additionally, newly written explanatory articles and essays from astronomers, both within and outside the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), enhance the uniqueness of this image collection.
Media Collaborations
The 25th anniversary of the Subaru Telescope was also featured in various publications and media:
Monthly Hoshi-Navi (October 2024 issue, KADOKAWA Publishing)
NAOJ NEWS (Winter 2024–2025 issue)
THE ASTRONOMICAL HERALD (January and February 2025 issues, Astronomical Society of Japan)
We were also featured in radio and podcast programs such as FM FUJI’s "30 Minutes of Stargazing!?" (and its podcast version "10 Minutes of Stargazing!?"), as well as an interview by The Research Corporation of the University of Hawai`i (RCUH), which was included in their 2024 Annual Report.
Through various collaborations in Japan and Hilo, we had numerous opportunities to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Subaru Telescope through diverse projects. We sincerely appreciate your continued support as we move forward into the future.
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