New tool willAN INSTRUMENT is being designed for the Infrared
Telescope Facility on Mauna Kea that will remove the atmospheric
disturbance so "it will be like putting a telescope in space,"
said Alan Tokunaga, IRTF Division chief in the University of
Hawaii's Institute of Astronomy. clear telescopes sight UH's
astronomy institute also receives a contract to manage the
infrared telescope By Helen Altonn An adaptive optics instrument
will be finished this year that will remove the atmospheric
disturbance. "It will allow us to achieve the full resolution of
the telescope, which is limited by the size of the (120-inch)
mirror," Tokunaga said. The telescope facility has averaged
about $300,000 a year in grants the past decade to build high-
tech instruments for the infrared telescope, Tokunaga said,
adding that it "has developed one of the best infrared
instrumentation groups in the world." The institute manages the
telescope for NASA, and the university has received a new $17
million, five-year contract to operate