RSAA News of the Month: December 2003
First Light in the New Year
2004 will see new telescopes in action on Stromlo and Siding Spring
During 2004 new telescopes will start operations on both Stromlo and Siding
Spring. The telescopes are "guest observatories",
renting their sites from the ANU. First to come online will be two
Stromlo based telescopes operated by Electro Optic Systems (EOS) of
Queanbeyan. They will be followed later in the year by the Faulkes South
telescope at Siding Spring.
Since 1998 EOS had operated a 1metre Satellite
Laser Ranging (SLR) telescope on Stromlo for Geoscience Australia. The
installation was completely destroyed in the firestorm of Jan 18,
2003.
In Dec 2002 work had started on a new 1.8metre telescope installation,
the prototype of four being built by EOS for the Keck Observatory in Hawaii.
The dome for the 1.8m was completed in October and telescope
installation is now complete. The mirror was installed in August,
testing of the systems is underway and first light is expected in
early 2004. The laser laboratory has been rebuilt and a new SLR
telescope installed. Laser ranging will also recommence early in the
new year.
Images showing the rapid restoration and growth of the EOS observatory
on Stromlo. The first image shows the SLR complex just before the
fires. The second shows the almost complete destruction of the
site. Following images show the 1.8m dome construction, the rebuilding
of the laboratory, a 1.8m telescope in the factory, and the completed
observatory with 1.8m and 1m domes and laboratory.
For a brief movie (requires Quicktime) showing the new
1m SLR being installed, click here.
For
further details about the telescopes, domes and systems produced by
EOS, click here.
The 1.8m telescope is the prototype of a batch of four destined to
become part of the Keck optical interferometer. This combines the
image signals from the world's two largest telescopes, the 10m Keck
reflectors, and the four 1.8m EOS outrigger telescopes, the so-called
"SideKecks". The resulting images will be the deepest and
sharpest ever obtained. EOS are using the Stromlo 1.8m to thoroughly
test all facets of the telescope and control systems before commencing
construction at Keck.
When testing is complete the telescope will be used to identify and
track space junk, the debris left in orbit by satellite launches. This
debris presents a real danger to spacecraft and the catalogue of
orbits will be commercially available. The 1.8m will eventually move
to Hawaii. The 1-m will continue the program interrupted by the fire,
measuring the exact orbits of satellites that are vital links in the
worldwide navigation, surveying and communication networks.
Meanwhile at Siding Spring the Australian element of the world's
largest group of educational telescopes is a step nearer completion.
During December the enclosure for the Faulkes
South Telescope was completed. Unlike the classical domed
telescope enclosure, this one opens like a clamshell and leaves the
telescope completely exposed during use.
The enclosure for the Faulkes South Telescope at Siding Spring
The Faulkes Telescopes
are 2m telescopes sited on Haleakala in Hawaii (Faulkes North) and
Siding Spring (Faulkes South). Their purpose is to allow students in
schools and colleges in the United Kingdom, Hawaii and Australia to
make astronomical observations with research class robotic telescopes,
direct from the classroom via the Internet. Faulkes North saw first
light in August this year, Faulkes South is due for completion in
mid-2004.
Partners in the project are the Dill Faulkes Educational
Trust, the University of
Hawaii, The Australian National
University, the Anglo-Australian
Observatory, the Royal
Observatory Greenwich, Liverpool
John Moores University, the National Space Science
Centre/University of Leicester,
the Particle Physics and Astronomy
Research Council and Swinburne
University, Melbourne.
For full information on the Faulkes Telescope Project, including
registration details for intending users, click here.
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