What is the name of the world's largest solar telescope, located in Hawaii?

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What is the name of the world's largest solar telescope, located in Hawaii? It is the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope.

The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, commonly abbreviated DKIST, stands at Haleakalā Observatory on the Hawaiian island of Maui. It is named after Daniel K. Inouye, a longtime U.S. senator from Hawaii, and is operated by the National Solar Observatory with support from the National Science Foundation.

Its 4-meter clear aperture makes it the world's largest solar telescope. Unlike nighttime observatories designed to gather faint starlight, DKIST must manage the Sun's intense heat and brightness. Its off-axis design avoids a central obstruction, while adaptive optics correct atmospheric blurring so researchers can resolve features on the solar surface at roughly 20-kilometer scales.

The facility was formerly known as the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope. Construction began in 2013, its first detailed images appeared in 2019, and its first science observations began in 2022. DKIST studies sunspots, magnetic fields, flares, and the small-scale processes that drive space weather.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Aug. 2026

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