{"id":224073,"date":"2025-10-22T08:00:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T18:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=224073"},"modified":"2025-10-22T09:12:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T19:12:27","slug":"uh-engineers-sharpen-view-of-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/22\/uh-engineers-sharpen-view-of-space\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr> engineers help sharpen our view of space"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"Clearest
Reconstructed image of the fast-spinning disc around star Beta Canis Minoris<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A groundbreaking new instrument that lets astronomers see deeper into space than ever before using a single telescope was brought to life with help from a University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa faculty member. Installed on the Subaru Telescope<\/a> atop Maunakea, the first-of-its-kind device set a new benchmark for how scientists study distant stars and planets.<\/p>\n

\"Sebastien
Sebastien Vievard works with the photonic lantern<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The instrument, called a photonic lantern, separates starlight into multiple channels, like breaking a musical chord into individual notes, allowing computers to rebuild an ultra-clear image. It\u2019s part of a new instrument called FIRST-PL<\/abbr>, developed and led by UH<\/abbr> and the Paris Observatory, and installed on the advanced optics platform SCExAO<\/abbr><\/a> (Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics) at Subaru Telescope<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“What excites me most is that this instrument blends cutting-edge photonics with the precision engineering done here in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>,” said S\u00e9bastien Vievard, a faculty member from the UH<\/abbr> Space Science and Engineering Initiative<\/a> (SSEI<\/abbr>) a joint program of the UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa College of Engineering<\/a> and Institute for Astronomy<\/a>. “It shows how collaboration across the world, and across disciplines, can literally change the way we see the cosmos.”<\/p>\n

Sharper cosmic views<\/h2>\n

The breakthrough, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters<\/a><\/em>, used the new setup to study a nearby star called beta Canis Minoris and revealed that its fast-spinning gas disk is unexpectedly lopsided, a detail never seen until now.<\/p>\n

\"Subaru
Subaru Telescope<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“This device splits the starlight according to its patterns of fluctuation, keeping subtle details that are otherwise lost. By reassembling the measurements of the outputs, we could reconstruct a very high-resolution image of a disk around a nearby star,” said Yoo Jung Kim, a graduate student at UCLA<\/abbr>, and lead author on the study.<\/p>\n

The international team included researchers from UH<\/abbr>, UCLA<\/abbr>, the Paris Observatory, the University of Sydney and Subaru Telescope.<\/p>\n

\"Group
International team of researchers that UH<\/abbr> engineers worked alongside<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>\u2019s space future<\/h2>\n

The achievement marks a milestone for UH<\/abbr>\u2019s new Space Science and Engineering Initiative, which launched its first engineering courses at UH<\/abbr> Hilo in fall 2024. The initiative aims to position Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> as a global hub for space research, technology development, and workforce training. Vievard, one of the program\u2019s founding faculty members, is helping to lead this new academic path that blends classroom learning with hands-on engineering experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The instrument on Maunakea\u2019s Subaru Telescope allows astronomers to see deeper into space than ever before.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":224082,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[34,179,182,35,659,1164,14,9],"class_list":["post-224073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-astronomy","tag-college-of-engineering","tag-engineering","tag-institute-for-astronomy","tag-maunakea","tag-telescope","tag-uh-hilo","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t