Siding Spring Observatory near
Coonabarabran, New South Wales
Coonabarabran
is a town in Warrumbungle Shire that sits on the divide between the Central West (New South Wales), Central West and North West Slopes regions of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2016 Australian census, 2016 census, the town had ...
, Australia, part of the Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics (RSAA) at the
Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...
(ANU), incorporates the
Anglo-Australian Telescope
The Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) is a 3.9-metre equatorially mounted telescope operated by the Australian Astronomical Observatory and situated at the Siding Spring Observatory, Australia, at an altitude of a little over 1,100 m. In 20 ...
along with a collection of other telescopes owned by the Australian National University, the University of New South Wales, and other institutions. The observatory is situated above sea level in the
Warrumbungle National Park
Warrumbungle National Park is a heritage listed national park located in the Orana region of New South Wales, Australia. The national park is located approximately northwest of Sydney and contained within . The park attracts approximately vi ...
on Mount Woorat,
[ also known as Siding Spring Mountain. Siding Spring Observatory is owned by the Australian National University (ANU) and is part of the Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories research school.
More than 100 million worth of research equipment is located at the observatory.] There are over 60 telescopes on site, though not all are operational.
History
The original Mount Stromlo Observatory
Mount Stromlo Observatory located just outside Canberra, Australia, is part of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Australian National University (ANU).
History
The observatory was established in 1924 as The Commonwea ...
was set up by the Commonwealth Government in 1924. After duty supplying optical components to the military in World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the emphasis on astronomical research changed in the late 1940s from solar to stellar research. Between 1953 and 1974, the reflecting telescope at Mount Stromlo was the largest optical telescope
An optical telescope is a telescope that gathers and focuses light mainly from the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum, to create a magnified image for direct visual inspection, to make a photograph, or to collect data through electro ...
in Australia.
Already in the 1950s, the artificial lights of Canberra
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
, ACT, had brightened the sky at Mount Stromlo to such an extent that many faint astronomical objects had been overwhelmed by light pollution
Light pollution is the presence of unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive use of artificial Visible spectrum, lighting. In a descriptive sense, the term ''light pollution'' refers to the effects of any poorly implemented lighting, during the day ...
. The search for a new site was initiated by Bart Bok
Bartholomeus Jan "Bart" Bok (April 28, 1906 – August 5, 1983) was a Dutch-American astronomer, teacher, and lecturer. He is best known for his work on the structure and evolution of the Milky Way galaxy, and for the discovery of Bok globules, ...
. After a site survey was undertaken the number of possible locations was narrowed down to two – Siding Spring and Mount Bingar near Griffith
Griffith may refer to:
People
* Griffith (name)
* Griffith (surname)
* Griffith (given name)
Places Antarctica
* Mount Griffith, Ross Dependency
* Griffith Peak (Antarctica), Marie Byrd Land
* Griffith Glacier, Marie Byrd Land
* Griffith Rid ...
, also in New South Wales. Siding Spring was first suggested for astronomy by Harley Wood, the New South Wales Government Astronomer at the time. Arthur Hogg did much of the preliminary site testing.
The Siding Spring site was selected by the ANU in 1962 from many other possible locations because of the dark and cloud-free skies. By the mid-1960s the ANU had set up three telescopes, together with supporting facilities, such as sealed roads, staff accommodation, electricity and water. In 1984, the Prime Minister, Bob Hawke
Robert James Lee Hawke (9 December 1929 – 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and union organiser who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (A ...
, opened the ANU's largest telescope, the low-cost and innovative aperture telescope, housed in a simple, co-rotating cuboid dome.
Since the 1950s, and quite independently of developments at Siding Spring, the Australian and British governments had been negotiating about the construction of a very large telescope. When these negotiations finally came to fruition in 1969, the infrastructure of Siding Spring Observatory was already in place, and it was the obvious site at which to locate the aperture Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT).
During the construction of the AAT in the early 1970s, the British Science Research Council
The Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) and its predecessor the Science Research Council (SRC) were the UK agencies in charge of publicly funded scientific and engineering research activities, including astronomy, biotechnology and bi ...
also built the UK Schmidt Telescope
The UK Schmidt Telescope (UKST) is a 1.24 metre Schmidt telescope operated by the Australian Astronomical Observatory (formerly the Anglo-Australian Observatory); it is located adjacent to the 3.9 metre Anglo-Australian Telescope at S ...
, to the northeast of the AAT dome. The considerably wider field of view
The field of view (FoV) is the extent of the observable world that is seen at any given moment. In the case of optical instruments or sensors it is a solid angle through which a detector is sensitive to electromagnetic radiation.
Humans a ...
of the Schmidt optical design complements the narrower field of the AAT, in that larger areas of sky may be surveyed more quickly. Interesting objects so discovered are then studied in greater detail on the larger instrument. In 1987, the Schmidt Telescope was amalgamated with the AAT.
Siding Spring Observatory also houses many telescopes from institutions across the world including, Korea, America, the UK, Poland, Hungary, Germany and Russia. In 1990, the earth-satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...
tracking facility of the Royal Greenwich Observatory
The Royal Observatory, Greenwich (ROG; known as the Old Royal Observatory from 1957 to 1998, when the working Royal Greenwich Observatory, RGO, temporarily moved south from Greenwich to Herstmonceux) is an observatory situated on a hill in G ...
was closed down after 10 years of operation.
In 2012 the first publicly accessible Internet based observatory, working in partnership with the RSAA, was commissioned by with over 25 telescopes housed in a large roll-off roof (ROR) observatory near the base of the UK Schmidt Telescope.
Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network
Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) is a network of astronomical observatories run by a non-profit private operating foundation directed by the technologist Wayne Rosing. Its offices are in Goleta, California. The telescopes are located at both norther ...
operate a 2-metre Ritchey Chretien telescope used for research, citizen science, and education purposes by users across the globe. Also, they operate inside the clam style dome 2 x 0.40 cm telescopes, and a further 2 × 1 metre telescopes housed in individual domes outside the building. Currently there are over one thousand registered users of the Faulkes Telescopes, who vary from schools and community groups to professional astronomers. A global network of robotic optical telescopes will not only provide continuous sky coverage and the ability to treat the network as a single instrument, but also provide the resources for performing cutting-edge science in collaboration with other organisations.
ROTSE, Robotic Optical Transient Search Experiment is operated by the University of New South Wales (UNSW), the 0.45 m, 3rd-generation robotic telescope has successfully detected the transient optical emission from several GRB events. The wide field of view and the fast response permit measurements inaccessible to more conventional instruments.
HAT-South
The Hungarian Automated Telescope Network (HATNet) project is a network of six small fully automated "HAT" telescopes. The scientific goal of the project is to detect and characterize extrasolar planets using the Methods of detecting extrasolar pla ...
is a project to search for transiting extrasolar planets in the Southern Hemisphere. It uses a network of wide-field telescopes to monitor hundreds of thousands of bright stars, searching for the characteristic dip in light that occurs when a planet passes in front of its host star. Hat – South is made up of 3 sites in the Southern hemisphere with two "TH4" units, making that 8 x 0.2-metre telescopes each at every sites. These TH4 units consist of four 0.18 m Takahashi astrographs fitted with Apogee 4k x 4k CCDs. Each TH4 unit monitors 64 square degrees of sky at a time, so each site is capable of monitoring 128 square degrees of sky.
Automated Patrol Telescope (APT) is operated by the University of NSW (UNSW) is a wide-field CCD imaging telescope. The 0.5 m telescope has a 5-degree field of view and can be operated remotely or in a fully automatic mode. The telescope has an optical design that more resembles that of a Schmidt camera, but has a 3-element lens to achieve a wide, corrected field of view. The APT was developed by extensively modifying the optical, mechanical and electronic systems of a Baker-Nunn satellite tracking instrument. The Baker-Nunn telescope had been located at Woomera in South Australia during the 1960s, and afterward was stationed at Orroral Valley near Canberra. The camera was donated by the Smithsonian Institution to UNSW in 1982.
PROMPT (also known as Skynet) is run by the University of North Carolina. The Panchromatic Robotic Optical Monitoring and Polarimetry Telescopes is made up of 4 x 0.41 Ritchey Chretien telescopes is entirely robotic and queue based. They are able to have rapid and simultaneous multi-wavelength observations of gamma ray burst afterglows and other transient objects.
Uppsala Schmidt Telescope was built in 1957 originally located in Sweden, relocated to Mount Stromlo, then finally in 1982 making a home at Siding Spring Observatory. The telescope was used by ANU in many roles such as Near Earth Object studies (NEOs) by famous comet hunter Rob McNaught. It was also the southern hemisphere counterpart of the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) located in Arizona, USA. The telescope is a 0.5m spherical mirror, with a 0.5m correcting plate, which allows a 6 degree field of view.
The KMT, Korean Microlensing Telescope, is a 1.6 m operated by KASI. The KMTNet aims primarily to discover extrasolar planets based on the analyses of gravitational microlensing phenomena, especially the detection of earth-mass planets in the habitable zone. The KMTNet system has a very competitive power for wide-field photometric survey sciences that study supernovae, asteroids and external galaxies, for instance. Because the observation period of the Galactic bulge focuses on the primary science on extrasolar planets, the other science programs are performed in the season when the Galactic bulge is not observable.
The Skymapper telescope, operated by the ANU, is currently mapping the entire southern sky, completing each map over a period of 3 months. The survey will record more than a billion stars and galaxies. This fully automated telescope also uses a series of filters enabling the camera to record the spectral type of stars, giving astronomers information about their age, mass and temperature. The 1.35m telescope has been used in the hunt for Planet 9 and more trans Neptunian objects, supernovae and also finding the oldest known star in the universe.
Solaris 3, operated by the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center as part of a network across the Southern hemisphere, is a single 0.5-metre telescope, using a new method referred to as eclipse timing to search for exoplanets. They have also added an astrograph to their telescope, giving it dual purpose.
Jaxa
The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into orb ...
, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, operate four 0.25-metre telescopes, searching and tracking space debris and near-Earth objects in the Southern hemisphere.
Huntsman Telephoto Array is operated by the AAO & Macquarie University to take images of faint galaxy structures using commercial lenses. Initially it will use a 0.28-metre Celestron Rowe-Ackermann Schmidt Astrograph (RASA) telescope with seven 400 mm Canon f/2.8 camera lenses.
bRing-AU, operated by a collaboration of Universities and astronomers will search for circumplanetary material, studying disks of dust in early history and the formation of icy satellites. They use 2 small modified cameras, with Kodak CCD chips.
2013 Bushfire
On 13 January 2013 the facility was threatened by a huge bushfire
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...
and firestorm. Eighteen staff were evacuated to Coonabarabran. Three buildings were destroyed: 'The Lodge' accommodation used by visiting researchers, the Director's Cottage and the Fire Station. Bushfire prevention measures had been implemented and were credited with the protection of the telescopes. Though smoke, ash and other air-borne debris entered some domes, all telescopes survived the inferno. The first telescopes back in action were those of the iTelescope Remote Observatory on 20 January. The Anglo-Australian Telescope
The Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) is a 3.9-metre equatorially mounted telescope operated by the Australian Astronomical Observatory and situated at the Siding Spring Observatory, Australia, at an altitude of a little over 1,100 m. In 20 ...
resumed normal operations in mid-February 2013.
Visitors
There is a visitors' gallery and exhibition area open to the public which also incorporates a café and souvenir
A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a m ...
shop. During NSW school holidays, guided tours of the site are offered. Groups of over 15 adults may apply for behind the scenes walking or bus tours.
An Open Day is held annually in October, offering talks about astronomy and tours inside many of the telescope domes which are open to the public on this one day of the year. These tours include the AAT 3.9M, UK Schmidt, , 2.3M ANU and the LCGTN 2M telescope facilities.
Telescopes
* Anglo-Australian Telescope
The Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) is a 3.9-metre equatorially mounted telescope operated by the Australian Astronomical Observatory and situated at the Siding Spring Observatory, Australia, at an altitude of a little over 1,100 m. In 20 ...
(AAO), operational in 1974
* UK Schmidt Telescope
The UK Schmidt Telescope (UKST) is a 1.24 metre Schmidt telescope operated by the Australian Astronomical Observatory (formerly the Anglo-Australian Observatory); it is located adjacent to the 3.9 metre Anglo-Australian Telescope at S ...
(AAO)
* Faulkes Telescope South
The Faulkes Telescope South is a clone of the Liverpool Telescope and is located at Siding Spring Observatory in New South Wales, Australia. It is a Ritchey-Chrétien telescope. It was designed to be operated remotely with the aim of encourag ...
(Las Cumbres Observatory
Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) is a network of astronomical observatories run by a non-profit private operating foundation directed by the technologist Wayne Rosing. Its offices are in Goleta, California. The telescopes are located at both norther ...
)
* SkyMapper
SkyMapper is a fully automated 1.35 m (4.4 ft) wide-angle optical telescope at Siding Spring Observatory in northern New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the telescopes of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics of the ...
Telescope (ANU), when launched in 2009 was the first new optical, research grade telescope in Australia since 1984.
* Advanced Technology Telescope (ANU), was built in 1984
* Multiple – (iTelescope Network), Internet connected remote telescopes for the Public. Built 2013
* 4 x PROMPT Telescopes
PROMPT, an acronym for Panchromatic Robotic Optical Monitoring and Polarimetry Telescopes, is being built by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile. PROMPT's primary objective is ...
(The University of North Carolina), Built 2013
* HAT-South
The Hungarian Automated Telescope Network (HATNet) project is a network of six small fully automated "HAT" telescopes. The scientific goal of the project is to detect and characterize extrasolar planets using the Methods of detecting extrasolar pla ...
Telescope Network (ANU, Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
The Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, MPIA) is a research institute of the Max Planck Society (MPG). It is located in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany near the top of the Königstuhl, adjacent to the ...
) with 8 x 0.2 m telescopes
* SOLARIS Telescope (Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre – Poland. Built 2012)
* Uppsala Southern Schmidt Telescope
The Uppsala Schmidt Telescope is a Schmidt telescope located in Australia. It was moved to Siding Spring Observatory from Mount Stromlo Observatory in 1982. The instrument has been used to study the galaxy, asteroids and comets. It was last ded ...
(ANU – decommissioned 2013)
* Automated Patrol Telescope
The Automated Patrol Telescope (APT) was a wide-field CCD imaging telescope, operated by the University of New South Wales at Siding Spring Observatory, Australia.
The telescope activated in June 1989.
This was one of four (4) ROTSE telescopes ...
(UNSW – decommissioned 2012)
* ROTSE IIIa, Robotic Optical Transit Search Experiment (UNSW)
* Jaxa
The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into orb ...
(Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) telescopes
* Telescope (ANU), was first commissioned in 1963 currently decommissioned and moved to Milroy Observatory for use by amateurs.
* Telescope (ANU – decommissioned)
* Telescope (ANU currently housing a 14-inch telescope for outreach programs)
* Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet)
Observing programs
The Anglo-Australian Near-Earth Asteroid Survey The Anglo-Australian Near-Earth Asteroid Survey (AANEAS) operated from 1990 to 1996, becoming one of the most prolific programs of its type in the world. Apart from leading to the discovery of 38 near-Earth asteroids, 9 comets, 63 supernovae, severa ...
used the UK Schmidt Telescope between 1990 and 1996. The same telescope was later dedicated for use by the RAVE
A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...
survey of the Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...
. The Near-Earth object
A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU). ...
search program called the Siding Spring Survey
The Siding Spring Survey (SSS) was a near-Earth object search program that used the 0.5-metre Uppsala Southern Schmidt Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory, New South Wales, Australia. It was the southern hemisphere counterpart of the Cata ...
(closed 2013) used the Uppsala Southern Schmidt Telescope. The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey
In astronomy, the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey (Two-degree-Field Galaxy Redshift Survey), 2dF or 2dFGRS is a redshift survey conducted by the Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO) with the 3.9m Anglo-Australian Telescope between 1997 and 11 A ...
, one of the largest survey of galaxies ever undertaken used the Anglo-Australian Telescope between 1995 and 2002.
Discoveries
1977, the Vela Pulsar
The Vela Pulsar (PSR J0835-4510 or PSR B0833-45) is a radio, optical, X-ray- and gamma-emitting pulsar associated with the Vela Supernova Remnant in the constellation of Vela. Its parent Type II supernova exploded approximately 11,000â ...
was discovered at Siding Spring. Comets discovered from the observatory include Comet 103P/Hartley
Comet Hartley 2, designated as 103P/Hartley by the Minor Planet Center, is a small periodic comet with an orbital period of 6.46 years. It was discovered by Malcolm Hartley in 1986 at the Schmidt Telescope Unit, Siding Spring Observatory, Au ...
, discovered in 1986 by Malcolm Hartley
Malcolm Hartley (born 15 February 1947, Bury, Greater Manchester) is an English-born astronomer and a discoverer of minor planets and comets, who works with the UK Schmidt Telescope at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia.
Career
Ha ...
, Comet C/2006 P1
Comet McNaught, also known as the Great Comet of 2007 and given the designation C/2006 P1, is a non-periodic comet discovered on 7 August 2006 by British-Australian astronomer Robert H. McNaught using the Uppsala Southern Schmidt Telescope. ...
, discovered by Robert H. McNaught
Robert H. McNaught (born in Scotland in 1956) is a Scottish-Australian astronomer at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics of the Australian National University (ANU). He has collaborated with David J. Asher of the Armagh Observator ...
using the Uppsala Southern Schmidt Telescope on 8 August 2006, and
Comet C/2013 A1
C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) is an Oort cloud comet discovered on 3 January 2013 by Robert H. McNaught at Siding Spring Observatory using the Uppsala Southern Schmidt Telescope.
At the time of discovery it was 7.2 AU from the Sun and loca ...
, also discovered by McNaught, which passed extremely close to Mars on 19 October 2014.[ (CK13A010)]
See also
*Australian Astronomical Observatory
The Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO), formerly the Anglo-Australian Observatory, was an optical and near-infrared astronomy observatory with its headquarters in North Ryde in suburban Sydney, Australia. Originally funded jointly by the U ...
(AAO), formerly the Anglo-Australian Observatory
* Comet Siding Spring
*List of astronomical observatories
This is a list of astronomical observatories ordered by name, along with initial dates of operation (where an accurate date is available) and location. The list also includes a final year of operation for many observatories that are no longer in ...
References
External links
*
Anglo-Australian Observatory
Uppsala Southern Sky NEO Survey Telescope
Faulkes Telescope South
iTelescope.Net Observatory
PROMPT Telescopes
SkyMapper Telescope
ROTSE III Project
2.3 m Advanced Technology Telescope
ANU Telescope
*
{{Authority control
Australian National University
1924 establishments in Australia
Mountains of New South Wales