Joint Astronomy Centre

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Joint Astronomy Centre

The Joint Astronomy Centre (JAC) was a management organization based in Hilo, Hawaii. From about 1980 to 2015 it operated two large telescopes on Mauna Kea for an international team of partners from the United Kingdom, Canada, and the Netherlands. It also supported other telescopes and ran public outreach programs, including managing the Starlink Project from 2006 to 2015.

In 2015, after funding from partner nations was withdrawn, the JAC closed on March 1, 2015. The facility was handed over to the East Asian Observatory, which now runs the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope.

Major telescopes formerly operated by the JAC:
- United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) – 3.8 meters, infrared
- James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) – 15 meters, submillimeter

Location and coordinates:
Mauna Kea, Hawaii; the JAC was based in Hilo, Hawaii. Coordinates: 19.70167°N, 155.09011°W.