The high-speed astronomical camera project HiPERCAM has lost its operations grant, forcing a UK-led team to halt routine usage of the instrument, according to University of Sheffield Professor of Astrophysics Vikram Dhillon. Dhillon announced the funding cut on July 21 at the UK’s National Astronomy Meeting (NAM2026), stating that the annual shortfall of roughly £50,000 left the project unable to cover basic operational expenses.
HiPERCAM Operations Cut by UK Grant Decision
According to Dhillon, the project team learned the previous week that their operations grant would not be renewed. The decision leaves the UK-led collaboration unable to cover routine expenses such as travel, spare parts, data archiving, and day-to-day maintenance for HiPERCAM and its sister instrument, ULTRACAM. While the hardware itself remains mounted on the 10.4-meter Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) in La Palma, Dhillon confirmed that routine operations must stop entirely because the team can no longer absorb the annual £50,000 shortfall, which represents a fraction of the more than £5 million originally invested in the instrument.
High-Speed Imaging for a Flickering Universe
Unlike ordinary astronomical cameras that pause between exposures and risk missing rapid celestial events, HiPERCAM was built to capture the sky at more than 1,000 frames per second. According to project documentation and presentations at NAM2026, the instrument utilizes frame-transfer detectors to achieve one-millisecond exposure times with minimal gaps between frames, simultaneously splitting incoming light into five distinct colors. This capability allows researchers to study rapid phenomena such as eclipsing white dwarfs, flickering gas near stellar-mass black holes, and stellar occultations like the event that revealed a ring around the dwarf planet Quaoar.
Did you know?
HiPERCAM’s GPS-synchronized timestamps provided an external timing reference that helped researchers measure the clock accuracy of the James Webb Space Telescope at 0.12 ± 0.06 seconds, exceeding pre-launch requirements.
Future Uncertainty for GTC and ULTRACAM
The termination of the funding also affects ULTRACAM, an earlier three-color high-speed camera launched in 2002 that operates on the European Southern Observatory’s New Technology Telescope in Chile. Because HiPERCAM is permanently installed on the GTC as its main optical imager and second-most-requested instrument, future survival may depend on alternative funding arrangements or a transfer of ownership to the observatory itself. However, Dhillon noted that no final agreements exist, leaving the instrument dependent on securing external financial support to resume scientific research.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the HiPERCAM project stopping operations?
Operations are stopping because the UK-led team’s operations grant was not renewed, leaving them without the approximately £50,000 needed annually for travel, spare parts, data archiving, and maintenance.
Where is HiPERCAM located?
HiPERCAM is permanently mounted on the 10.4-meter Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) located on La Palma.
What makes HiPERCAM different from standard astronomical cameras?
HiPERCAM uses frame-transfer detectors and splits light into five colors to capture rapid astronomical events at speeds approaching 1,000 frames per second without readout pauses.
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