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Our funding agency in the UK, the Science and Technology
Facilities Council (STFC), have recently announced
their science programme for the
next 5 years. For the JAC telescopes, it includes:
- a commitment to continue operating the JCMT until at
least 2012; and
- a "managed withdrawal" from UKIRT on a timescale to
be defined.
Although the public announcement does not explicitly
state this, continuation of the JCMT beyond 2012 is envisaged and
is contingent, inter alia, on the astronomical performance of
the SCUBA-2 instrument.
The UKIRT decision is a profound disappointment for
everyone associated with the observatory. We are working with STFC to
define the timescale and the implementation details, and we are also
looking at alternative modes of operation. We emphasise
that no decision has yet been taken to close the facility.
The world's largest telescope dedicated
solely to infrared astronomy, UKIRT is sited in Hawaii near the summit
of Mauna Kea at an altitude of 4194m above sea level. It is owned by
the United Kingdom Science and Technology Facilities Council and
operated, along with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), by the
staff of the Joint Astronomy Centre, which is located in Hilo. The
operation and development of UKIRT are overseen by the UKIRT
Board.
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