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Up top, we are still anxiously awaiting the arrival of MICHELLE.
We have successfully tested our mirror cooling system, but it is
not yet fully operational. We have found ourselves suddenly short-staffed,
and hope we can find people before MICHELLE shows up, then UIST.
Visitors have been finding ORAC to be wonderful and the online data-reduction
pipeline to be a real boon. Most feel this has greatly enhanced
our efficiency. I have even heard that there are published papers
out with pipeline-reduced data in them (but this is not necessarily
advertised). My lips are sealed... So, it is true that there are
times you can walk out of UKIRT with publishable data. Here's hoping
we see more published papers! Aloha!
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phenomenal job and should be given most of the credit for finding
a sensible and workable route to allow UKIRT to jump the new era
of high image quality astronomy, without missing a beat, and thus
to continue as one of the world’s most productive telescopes.
Tim’s role in allowing his team (including himself) to use
all of its intelligence and creativity and then tempering its ideas
when necessary with the need for efficient observing procedures
and the realities of funding led to the generation of a solid proposal.
His comprehensive knowledge, his honesty, and the enthusiasm with
which he conveyed the Upgrades plans to the UKIRT Board all were
key to getting the project funded and to maintaining the strong
support of the Board throughout the duration of the programme. In
addition, Tim’s maintenance of a genuinely friendly working
relationship with staff at MPIA in Heidelberg (the supplier of the
new top-end) was an essential part of the equation.”
Nick Rees, another key member of the upgrades team, recalls Tim’s
contributions both to UKIRT, its staff, and to the wider astronomical
field: “My best memories of Tim come from the upgrades programme.
The simple truth is that the Upgrades programme was Tim Hawarden’s
idea, it was his baby and we were bonded together with some special
sort of Tim glue. I don’t know how he makes it, but it is extremely
rare and springs from his eternal willingness to have a heated discussion
on just about anything, tempered with his incredible support for
his fellow workers and a true generosity of spirit that is unmatched
in my
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experience. This
generosity is not just simple material generosity (but there is plenty
of that), but is a true generosity of spirit which ensures everyone
is acknowledged and shares the credit for the work, and his genuine
concern when you have a problem with anything at all.
However, Tim was not just the upgrades programme. In his time at
UKIRT he also contributed hugely in ensuring that we understood
our photometric calibrators, and it always amazes me that whilst
he was in the middle of Upgrades he also seemed to be revolutionizing
space-based infra-red telescope design. The latter was in the form
of the Edison project, a proposal for a passively cooled infrared
telescope. The proposal may have failed, but I don’t believe
there will ever be another HST – all future optical/infrared
telescopes will be passively cooled, Edison was the first and so
that is where all the initial ideas came from – i.e. Tim. This
may sound technical, but it basically increases the telescope lifetime
by a factor of 5-10, or reduces the cost per image by a similar
amount, so it is nothing to sneeze at.”
So, Tim, we’ll miss you, but we wish you and Frances all the
best back in Edinburgh and at the ATC.
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By the time of the next newsletter, Tim Hawarden will have completed
his rolling return to the ATC in Edinburgh. Two of Tim’s closest
colleagues offer their thoughts on his contributions to UKIRT.
Tom Geballe, Head of UKIRT Operations through the entire period
of the Upgrades programme, recalls Tim’s work thus: “...
the Upgrades Team in Hawaii (including Tim Chuter, Nick Rees, and
Chas Cavedoni) that Tim led did an absolutely
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