THE ING NEWSLETTER No. 5, October 2001
GENERAL SCIENCE TELESCOPES AND INSTRUMENTATION OTHER NEWS FROM ING TELESCOPE TIME
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Message from the Director
Dear Reader,By the time this ING Newsletter reaches your screen, library or desk, a new fibre module for the Autofib fibre instrument will have been fully commissioned. Although at the time of writing there is still much work to be done, the new unit has been put through its paces on the telescope. And very successfully so ! This project is one of the main instrumentation development activities that are fully carried out by ING staff on La Palma. But most importantly, this project will provide significant improvements to the capability of multi-object fibre spectroscopy at the WHT. The interest in this field of observational astronomy is reflected in the large number of high quality applications that have been received. As multi-object fibre spectroscopy is seen as one of the key roles for the WHT in future years it is heartening to see that there is so much interest in this new fibre module.You will read more on the new fibre module in the pages that follow.
An important event occurred in February of this year when an international and independent group of four eminent scientists conducted a review of the ING. This Visiting Group, chaired by Prof Kenneth Freeman, was asked by the ING Board to review progress made on the recommendations from the review that was carried out three years earlier, and to review the operations and development plans and future prospects of the ING. The outcome of this review has been very supportive of what the ING has accomplished in recent years and what our strategic plans are for the future. This review has already had an important impact and will serve as a reference point for several years to come.
For one thing, the international review helped ING focus on the options for further international collaboration, and on the more important role that the IAC could play in the operation and development of the observatory. This has led to an investigation on how collaborations may develop further. At the moment talks are ongoing for collaborations at various levels between ING and the IAC, the Italian National Telescope Galileo, Calar Alto Observatory, and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. These practical initiatives are all aimed at providing better, and more cost-effective service for the community of users in the longer term.
René G. M. Rutten
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GENERAL SCIENCE TELESCOPES AND INSTRUMENTATION OTHER NEWS FROM ING TELESCOPE TIME © Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes, La Palma, 2001.