Once a year Subaru users gather to discuss the current status and future plans of the telescope.

The Subaru Deep Field (SDF) will combine narrow band imaging and spectroscopy to search for a large number of the most distant galaxies in the Universe.

The Imaging Survey of Proto-Planetary Disks will image a large number of young stars with proto-planetary disks to gain insight on star and planet formation.

The Subaru-XMM Deep Survey (SXDS) will image a one square degree region of the sky at many wavelengths. It is a collaborative project with researchers who have access to other telescopes such as the X-ray satellite XMM-Newton which will obtain data to complement Subaru's research to study the evolution of galaxies and active galactic nuclei.

Subaru has a high speed computer network with a large data archiving capacity. Optical fiber cables provide a direct link between the telescope at the summit of Mauna Kea, the Hilo Base Facility and NAOJ headquarters in Mitaka, Japan. Data from the telescope is immediately archived in Hilo and in Mitaka where researchers can access data as if they were at the summit. The high speed network will allow researchers to observe remotely from Japan.

The Hilo Base Facility has a supercomputer for data reduction and analysis. The supercomputer is also used to model the weather on the Mauna Kea summit in collaboration with University of Hawaii meteorologists. The telescope mirror is cooled to the predicted night time air temperature to minimize the heat difference that can cause turbulence in the air above the telescope. In the future, instruments may be scheduled on the basis of weather.

(Left) Video conferencing allows direct interaction with the Japanese public.
(Center&Right) Subaru gives presentations to schools and community groups and participates in local events. Visiting Hilo Base Facility is by appointment only, which be arranged on weekdays between 9am and 4 pm for a special interest group.