THE ING NEWSLETTER No. 3, September 2000
GENERAL SCIENCE TELESCOPES AND INSTRUMENTATION OTHER NEWS FROM ING TELESCOPE TIME
Previous: Front Cover Up: Table of Contents Next: The Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes Message from the Director
Dr René Rutten. Director, INGDear Reader,
The landscape of UK ground based astronomy is rapidly changing. This is a matter of natural evolution, and like in most evolutionary processes, at times quantum leaps are experienced. Potentially the most significant of such changes would become reality if the UK were to obtain the funds required to join the European Southern Observatory (ESO). This will profoundly change the way the UK has historically organised ground-based astronomy, and it will undoubtedly impact on the role played by the existing facilities, including those of the Isaac Newton Group of telescopes. It is good to see that a debate has been opened to discuss the future requirements in some detail, placed in the light of the UK joining ESO. In order to summarise the role that ING could play in the future of UK astronomy, an open letter was sent out to the astronomical community. This letter is reprinted in the 'Other News' section of this newsletter issue. At the time of writing it is not clear what the future will bring, but I trust that various committees and PPARC will find the right balance of choices that is best for the future of UK astronomy.
In spite of the significant upheaval resulting from the potential changes in the future, work at the observatory is steadily progressing to improve the capabilities of the telescopes. The most important milestone recently has been the completion of the new infra-red camera, INGRID, for the William Herschel Telescope. INGRID has had a long and nasty history as it was one of the projects that got trapped in the closure of the Royal Greenwich Observatory. There was no other option at that time as to transfer the project to La Palma and complete it there. One can imagine that for the observatory to take on such a fairly major project whilst retaining a clear focus on the operation of the telescopes wasn't easy. Throughout the project PPARC has been very supportive in working towards a successful completion of INGRID, for which ING is very grateful. Although later than planned, in the end commissioning of INGRID was a great success and all those involved are pleased and proud to see INGRID now delivers the science it was intended for. The impact of INGRID on the demand of the William Herschel Telescope has been felt immediately, as the oversubscription of bright time for semester 2000B has been well above that for dark time !
Development effort now focuses on the NAOMI adaptive optics system for the WHT. Progress at the Astronomy Technology Centre and the University of Durham has been very good. On La Palma engineers and astronomers are busy with the preparations for the commissioning of this complex system. It is with great anticipation that we are looking forward to 'first light' for this common-user adaptive optics system.
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