Hayashi Saeko: Three Decades Pushing the Limits of Astronomical Observation with the Subaru Telescope

Hayashi beside a model of the Subaru Telescope on exhibit at the National Astronomical Observatory’s headquarters in Mitaka, Tokyo. (© Nippon.com)

The telescope’s 8.3-meter mirror blank being transported from Canton, New York, to Wampum, Pennsylvania, for polishing in 1994. (© NAOJ)

Hayashi Saeko in 2002, photographed in front of the Subaru Telescope. She is wearing a safety harness necessary to operate an aerial lift for the direct inspection of the primary mirror. (Photo courtesy of Hayashi Saeko)

Left: A snow blower clears the access road around the observatory. Right: a native of Japan’s “snow country,” Hayashi is an old hand at shoveling snow off of rooftops. (Photos courtesy of Hayashi Saeko)