Can you visit Pan-STARRS? No regular public access
No public access; Haleakala Science City is closed to visitors.
For telescope views near Pan-STARRS, see the observatories open to the public and astronomy clubs nearby; clubs hold free public star parties.
Telescopes at Pan-STARRS
2 x 1.8-m telescopes.
Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System
How dark the sky is at Pan-STARRS
Pan-STARRS has no Bortle rating in the list yet. The scale below shows what each class looks like.
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.
Pan-STARRS among the observatories of Hawaii
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 Haleakala Observatory site (complex-level, Wikipedia): 20.708°N, 156.257°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 Pan-STARRS
Pan-STARRS sits inside Haleakala National Park, a Bortle Class 2 dark sky place. See Haleakala National Park for camping, where to set up and the sky by season.
Nearest dark sky places
| Place | Where | Bortle | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Haleakala National Park | Hawaii | 2 | 1 km (1 mi) |
| Kalahaku Overlook | Hawaii | 2 | 4 km (3 mi) |
| Polipoli Spring State Recreation Area | Hawaii | 3 | 10 km (6 mi) |
| Pua'a Ka'a State Wayside | Hawaii | 2 | 19 km (12 mi) |
| Wailua Valley State Wayside | Hawaii | 2 | 19 km (12 mi) |
| Kaumahina State Wayside | Hawaii | 2 | 20 km (13 mi) |
Other observatories open to the public within 150 km
- W. M. Keck ObservatoryMaunakea, Hawaii Island, Hawaii, 128 km (79 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, 128 km (80 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.
Pan-STARRS record
Every value in the observatories dataset for Pan-STARRS
| ID | 262 |
|---|---|
| Name | Pan-STARRS |
| Address | summit |
| City | Mount Haleakala |
| State | HI |
| Country | USA |
| Web | https://panstarrs.ifa.hawaii.edu/pswww/ |
| Public | n |
| Telescope | 2 x 1.8-m telescopes |
| Notes | Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System |
| Elevation | 3052 |
| Lat | 20.70830 |
| Lon | -156.25710 |
| LatLonSpot | Haleakala Observatory site (complex-level, Wikipedia) |
| Status | Active |
| StatusNote | PS1 operating, PS2 in the north dome |
| PublicNote | No public access; Haleakala Science City is closed to visitors |
| Sources | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haleakal%C4%81_Observatory |
| ParkID | 187 |
| ParkKm | 1.0 |
From the site's observatories dataset (observatories_q426). Distances are computed from the coordinates.