ANU poised to take lead role in Australian astronomy
June 24, 2018
The Australian National University (ANU) is poised to take a lead role in Australian astronomy that will support the nation’s scientists to discover more of the Universe’s secrets.
From 1 July this year, ANU will head a consortium of 13 universities to operate the 3.9-metre Anglo-Australian Telescope, Australia’s largest optical telescope, as it prepares to be equipped with new instruments to keep it at the forefront of astronomy internationally.
As part of the restructuring, Australian astronomers have also gained access to powerful optical telescopes in Chile through a 10-year strategic partnership with the European Southern Observatory (ESO) supported by Australian Government funding.
The consortium will take over operation of the AAT from the Australian Astronomical Observatory in an effort to maintain a high level of capacity in optical astronomy for the nation.
ANU astronomer Professor Matthew Colless said the new partnership with ESO and arrangements for the AAT would ensure that Australia's optical astronomical research continues to help advance humanity's understanding of the Universe.
He said ANU was proud to operate the AAT on behalf of the nation.
“Astronomy is an area of science in which ANU and Australia, more broadly, excels and much of our success can be attributed to the Anglo-Australian Telescope, which has been operating for more than 40 years,” said Professor Colless, who is the Director of the ANU Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics.
“As an astronomer who visited the AAT as a teenager the year after it was commissioned, who has used the telescope for my research, and who was Director of the AAO for nine years, I am delighted that the AAT will continue to be available to Australian astronomers.
“Access to the telescope remains heavily over-subscribed by astronomers wanting to use its facilities.”
Associate Professor Christopher Lidman, Director of the ANU Siding Spring Observatory where the AAT is located, said the AAT had been used in many ground-breaking astronomical surveys.
“One of these surveys, a survey called GALAH, recently mapped 350,000 stars in the Milky Way. The survey will enable scientists to understand how the Milky Way was formed and will even allow them to find the lost siblings of our Sun that were separated soon after their birth,” he said.
“This is just one of the many amazing scientific achievements that have been possible thanks to the Anglo-Australian Telescope, which will help Australian astronomers make many more discoveries about our Universe well into the future.”
The university consortium that will operate the AAT includes: ANU, The University of New South Wales, The University of Sydney, Macquarie University, Western Sydney University, The University of Melbourne, Swinburne University, Monash University, The University of Queensland, The University of Southern Queensland, Curtin University, The University of Tasmania and The University of Western Australia.
FOR INTERVIEWS:
Professor Matthew Colless
Director, Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics
ANU College of Science
T: +61 2 6125 0266
M: +61 431 898 345
E: [email protected]
Associate Professor Christopher Lidman
Director, ANU Siding Spring Observatory
Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics
ANU College of Science
T: +61 2 6125 0238
E: [email protected]
For media assistance, contact the ANU media team on +612 6125 7979 or at <[email protected]>.
MULTIMEDIA FOR MEDIA USE:
Images:
For AAT related images, visit: . Please note the AAO's image usage policy.
Videos:
- Rainbow fingerprints – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bVGr1MV2-8
- Sky over the AAT – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mRMj52V4DM
- 2dF night at the AAT – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKoWQtDd14c
Credit: The Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO).
Click on this link to download high definition videos related to the research:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1kjbKBXQTvxtaJdrkVNtn9smWsDvmvR2L
Credit: AAO