Top End

Andy Adamson

Head of UKIRT Operations/Director of Science

Deep Impact

Sometimes astronomy throws up an event of such extraordinary excitement that it commands the interest of not just the astronomers directly involved but the whole astronomical community, and also grabs the attention of the general public. In the USA at least, this was very obviously the case with the Deep Impact mission, reported on in this issue. The UCL observing team came extremely well prepared and did a fine job, and Paul Hirst and Tim Carroll can be proud of their support of a once-in-a-lifetime programme under a great degree of pressure to get it right.

WFCAM and UKIDSS

Since the previous newsletter, we have been through one complete cycle of WFCAM operations - carrying out the Feb-March Cassegrain observing block, reinstalling WFCAM on the telescope, recommissioning and undertaking UKIDSS science verification, and then completing the 05A Cassegrain observing before resuming wide-field observing at the end of August. The ETS group have reduced the turnover time between the two modes; it is now settled at three nights of downtime, and the forward-look schedule (which calls for blocks typically of three or four months in duration) should be reasonably efficient. Tilt of the WFCAM focal plane proved to be a significant problem, but the most recent iteration has reduced it to a level which can be accommodated, with a secondary displacement which will not result in any significant collateral aberrations.

The quality of the data which UKIDSS can expect to be dealing with is apparent in the images seen on the front page and in the UKIDSS SV article in this newsletter. Organizational issues with scheduling the UKIDSS 2-year plan are being worked out with the benefit of experience gained in May and June, and the performance of the camera in conjunction with the telescope has been improving consistently since April; efficient survey operations are anticipated through until the switch back to Cassegrain at the start of 06A in February.

Strategic Review

The strategic review of UKIRT, being carried out by an independent panel of international experts chaired by Richard Ellis, will shortly produce its report. Many of those who have benefited from UKIRT data and contributed to its success over the past decades took part in a community discussion meeting at the NAM in Birmingham. We are grateful to all those who attended and contributed to a compelling discussion, in which a wide range of possible future directions were put forward for consideration. In June, the panel toured the Hilo and Summit facilities and saw in some detail the current state of UKIRT operations; all of this has provided a good deal for the Panel to deliberate over and their efforts are greatly appreciated.