Electromagnetic waves emitted by celestial objects not only include visible light, but also considerable amounts of ultraviolet and infrared light that is invisible to the human eye. Ultraviolet light is absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere, but infrared light reaches the Earth's surface.

A triple wavelength near-infrared camera attached to the Cassegrain focus detects this infrared light and allows NAYUTA to reproduce colorful and vivid images of the cosmos that lie hidden to the human eye.