NASA Infrared Telescope at 4,168 m (13,680 ft).

Research observatory · Mauna Kea, Hawaii

NASA Infrared Telescope

NASA Infrared Telescope (IRTF) is a research observatory in Mauna Kea, Hawaii. NASA Infrared Telescope is about 8 km (5 mi) from Mauna Kea, a Bortle Class 2 dark sky place.

NASA Infrared Telescope in brief

Open to the public
No regular public access
Elevation
4,168 m (13,680 ft)
Bortle class
Not yet rated
Observes in
Infrared
Part of
Mauna Kea Observatories (MKO)
Operated by
NASA

Official site

Can you visit NASA Infrared Telescope? No regular public access

No public access.

For telescope views near NASA Infrared Telescope, see the observatories open to the public and astronomy clubs nearby; clubs hold free public star parties.

NASA Infrared Telescope
NASA Infrared Telescope

Telescopes at NASA Infrared Telescope: infrared

3.0m infrared telescope.

Mauna Kea Observatories (MKO): 11 observatories on one site

How dark the sky is at NASA Infrared Telescope

NASA Infrared Telescope has no Bortle rating in the list yet. The scale below shows what each class looks like.

1 mag 8.0 21.99+ 2 mag 7.5 21.89+ 3 mag 7.0 21.69+ 4 mag 6.5 20.49+ 5 mag 6.0 19.50+ 6 mag 5.5 18.94+ 7 mag 5.0 18.38+ 8 mag 4.5 18.00+ 9 mag 4.0
The Bortle scale. Each panel shows the class number, the faintest star the naked eye reaches at the zenith, and the darkest-edge sky brightness reading of that class in mag/arcsec².

Sky brightness and class come from the World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness (Falchi et al. 2016, CC BY-NC 4.0), with natural skyglow added, at the coordinates below. Research telescopes are often sited on mountains above the haze, so the real sky can be darker than the map suggests.

NASA Infrared Telescope among the observatories of Hawaii

Ha'ena State Park Haleakala National Park Hanauma Bay Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Kalahaku Overlook Kau Forest Reserve Kaumahina State Wayside Koke'e State Park Manuka State Wayside Mauna Kea Na Pali-Kona Forest Reserve Pala'au State Park Polihale State Park Polipoli Spring State Recreation Area Pua'a Ka'a State Wayside Wai'anapanapa State Park Wailua Valley State Wayside Waimea Canyon State Park Mauna Loa Observatory Leeward College Observatory KEASA Observatory Gemini North Observatory Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Subaru Telescope James Clerk Maxwell Telescope Submillimeter Array Very Long Baseline Array - Mauna Kea Station UH 2.2m Telescope Thirty Meter Telescope (proposed) Pan-STARRS Faulkes Telescope North (LCO 2m) Inouye Solar Telescope Advanced Electro-Optical System Mees Solar Observatory Solar-C Telescope Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer (proposed) Haleakala Observatory ATLAS Haleakala Tohoku Telescopes W. M. Keck Observatory Lanihuli Observatory Maunakea Observatories NASA Infrared Telescope Mauna Kea, Hawaii NASA Infrared Telescope Mauna Kea, Hawaii
Dark sky place Research or private observatory Observatory open to the public

Green dots are observatories open to the public, blue dots research or private sites, squares dark sky places; select one for its page. See Hawaii observatories for the full list.

The coordinates on this page point to IRTF dome (IRTF survey list): 19.826°N, 155.472°W.

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Open the larger map · Directions. Mountain observatory roads are often gated after dark; go only on a scheduled public night.

Dark sky places, observatories and clubs near NASA Infrared Telescope

NASA Infrared Telescope is about 8 km (5 mi) from Mauna Kea, a Bortle Class 2 dark sky place. See Mauna Kea for camping, where to set up and the sky by season.

Nearest dark sky places

PlaceWhereBortleDistance
Mauna KeaHawaii28 km (5 mi)
Hawaii Volcanoes National ParkHawaii549 km (30 mi)
Kau Forest ReserveHawaii268 km (42 mi)
Manuka State WaysideHawaii188 km (55 mi)
Wai'anapanapa State ParkHawaii2119 km (74 mi)
Haleakala National ParkHawaii2128 km (79 mi)

Other observatories open to the public within 150 km

  • W. M. Keck ObservatoryMaunakea, Hawaii Island, Hawaii, 0 km (0 mi). Summit Visitors' Gallery inside Keck I open daily 10 am-2:30 pm (4WD above 9,200 ft); no night viewing; headquarters in Waimea
  • Maunakea ObservatoriesMauna Kea, Hawaii, 0 km (0 mi). Maunakea Visitor Information Station (2,800 m) hosts monthly reservation stargazing events; summit domes closed to public except resident KOE tours

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in Hawaii puts the dark sky places, observatories, clubs, star parties, planetariums and science centers of the state on one map, with the best night out worked out.

NASA Infrared Telescope record

Every value in the observatories dataset for NASA Infrared Telescope
ID256
NameNASA Infrared Telescope
AcronymIRTF
Addresssummit
CityMauna Kea
StateHI
CountryUSA
Webhttps://irtfweb.ifa.hawaii.edu
Publicn
Jobshttps://www.maunakeaastronomyjobs.org/employers/11/nasa-infrared-telescope-facility.html
Telescope3.0m infrared telescope
ComplexMauna Kea Observatories (MKO)
ParentNASA
Elevation4168
IRy
Lat19.82622
Lon-155.47200
LatLonSpotIRTF dome (IRTF survey list)
StatusActive
PublicNoteNo public access
Sourceshttps://irtfweb.ifa.hawaii.edu/IRrefdata/telescope_ref_data.php
ParkID195
ParkKm7.6

From the site's observatories dataset (observatories_q426). Distances are computed from the coordinates.