ING Annual Report
1999
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Foreword
[ TIFF ]
Professor Tim de Zeeuw
Chairman of the ING
Board
It
is a pleasure to follow in the footsteps of the previous Chairman, Carlos
Frenk, and write the foreword to the 1999 Annual Report of the Isaac Newton
Group of Telescopes, on behalf of the ING Board.
The past year has been another excellent one, scientifically and operationally
for the ING, with high scientific output, low downtime, improved scientific
atmosphere within the ING and excellent prospects for the immediate future.
ISIS and UES continue to
be workhorses on the WHT. The WFC is in strong demand, and so is the infrared
camera INGRID which was recently completed by ING staff. Unique private
instruments, such as the ESTEC STJ-based camera, and the F/NL/UK wide-field
integral-field spectrograph SAURON, produced their first scientific results.
UES studies of extra-solar planets attracted world-wide press coverage.
The INT produces high-quality wide-field survey data, and also the JKT
is used effectively.
The ING has very recently started
the commissioning of the natural guide star adaptive optics system NAOMI,
which will exploit INGRID. The Board has agreed an exciting medium term
development plan for the WHT which is supported by PPARC and by NWO. This
includes funding for a coronagraph to work with NAOMI, design studies towards
a multi-object spectrograph (MOSAIC) and adaptation of OASIS (an integral-field
spectrograph currently on the CFHT) for use on the WHT with NAOMI. The
new ING Newsletter is a very effective way of informing the astronomical
community of all that goes on at the ING.
The ING is continuing to adapt
to changing scientific and financial conditions and has, through the Director's
good management, coped well with the changes imposed by the closure of
the RGO and constraints placed upon the Joint ING Operations Budget. Maintaining
scientific output has been possible through major improvements in the mode
of working and model for operations and is assisted by specific investments
in new computing networks for the facilities, and restructuring resources,
allowing new and more efficient systems be put in place. The addition of
postdoctoral fellows funded by PPARC has had a very positive effect on
the scientific environment of the ING.
The astronomical landscape
in Europe is changing rapidly, with the coming on line of the VLT, the
prospect of UK membership in ESO and the start of the construction phase
of the GranTeCan.
The Board encourages the on-going
efforts to find ways in which the ING might collaborate with the GranTeCan
project. These include the development of a joint sea level facility and
the possibility of collaboration in instrumentation. The Board is convinced
that the ING's present success and status is a good reflection on the energies
and skills of the Director who has worked very hard to take the programme
forward and to develop the strategies which are needed to ensure that the
ING continues to provide key astronomical facilities for many years to
come.
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Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes