Pan-STARRS NEO hunter innovative CCD array "aims to scan the entire sky visible from the summit of Mount Haleakala in Maui Island, Hawaii, three times a month, searching for asteroids and near-Earth objects (NEOs) as small as 300 meters in diameter. At the heart of each telescope is a 1.4-billion-pixel digital camera that can photograph broad swaths of the night sky in sharp detail.

The first prototype telescope using the camera will go online in December. This telescope will scan the night sky, searching for asteroids and comets that could pose a threat to Earth. Pan-STARRS is designed to have at least three times the collecting power of current NEO telescopes.

The Pan-STARRS's cameras, each consisting of a 40-centimeter-square array of charge-coupled devices (CCDs), bring new technology to the optics used in astronomy. Perhaps the most innovative aspect is the ability of each CCD cell to electronically shift an image to counteract atmospheric blur and deliver clearer astrophotography"