UKIRT: current news

[gogould]

Whoa! That is one of the great photos! Thanks Tom.

[Aaron S]

I inquired with the University of Hawaii Public Affairs Office to seek clarification what they meant in the press release. This is the e-mail they sent me.

"Statement by Robert McLaren, Associate Director, Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Manoa:"

"UKIRT is already 35 years old. While it continues to be very productive at present, it is possible that it will not remain sufficiently productive to justify the necessary operating funds all the way to 2033. Hence the statement of "at least 10 more years."

[TomK]

The UKIRT site will not be redeveloped if and when UKIRT is decommissioned.

http://www.malamamaunakea.org/uploads/ma...n_2010.pdf

(Pages 31 & 34).

As for Bob McLaren's point, if I had responded to the thread earlier today I would have said more or less the same thing. In astronomy, things are typically talked about in 10-year steps as this is the typical lifetime of a new and major astronomical instrument. The current transfer of UKIRT is for two years only with the hope and expectation further funds will be found during that time to operate UKIRT beyond those two years. The transfer of the JCMT to a new operator next year may also play a role in this.

[Aaron S]

I was going going to ask about the status of the James Maxwell Clerk Telescope, but I found my answers on the Joint Astronomy Center website.

http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/JCMT/announce...ement.html
http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/JCMT/announce...40609.html

I mixed up the transfer of the UKIRT and JMCT and who is slated to own/operate both telescopes. Both of these telescopes will be owned by the University of Hawaii, but will have different operators (Lockheed Martin/University of Arizona (UKIRT) and EACOA/UK/Canada (JMCT))

[TomK]

EACOA is now EAO (East Asian Observatory - http://www.eacoa.net/eao.php). They are hoping to adopt the same model as the Europeans, i.e., ESO (http://www.eso.org/public/).

[TomK]

A little more news via Sky & Telescope:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy...pe-110314/