Top End

Andy Adamson

Head of UKIRT Operations/Director of Science

Since the last newsletter, the Michelle project has been brough t to the edge of fruition; at the time of writing, the instrument is on the telescope, undergoing daytime tests in advance of night-time commissioning, and we are looking forward to the first bona fide science target in late September. Michelle has occupied a dominant position in UKIRT's work over the past six months, and it is appropriate now to look back over the past few mon ths.

Acceptance tests were carried out in Edinburgh in May, and just about completed by the time a failing compressor decided to bring proceedings to an impromptu conclusion. However, we had already seen enough: the instrument was performing well enough that to remain any longer in Edinburgh was not warranted, and the decision to ship to Hawaii was not a difficult one. Michelle arrived in Hilo in late June, and was successfully assembled and tested before b eing shipped to the summit. All of this went essentially on schedule, a remarkable achievement given the complexity of the instrument. Our thanks also to the Gemini North Observatory for the use of their lab space!

Following the arrival of Michelle at the summit on the UKIRT web cam was perhaps not as good as actually being there, but we had agreed that we would try to keep the number of summit staff to sensible levels that day. Plenty of great photographs were of course taken, a selection of which can be found in the article elsewhere in this Newsletter and on the JAC web pages. As to the instrument's performance, it is as yet early days but the signs are good. So, while there is more to do before the science begins to flow, congratulations are due to the whole Michelle team for getting to this stage, and we wish the science team well for the coming commissioning period and PATT observations.

There is no let-up: with Michelle on the telescope and the Michelle team returned to Edinburgh, we will turn to the next major job. With hardly a pause, UKIRT will take delivery of its second major new facility instrument. UIST will arrive in early 2002, pending successful acceptance tests at the ATC in October this year. UIST is the logical conclusion of the Upgrades programme: a spectrometer and imager with pixel scales well matched to the delivered image quality. UIST's Aladdin array detects out to 5 microns and hence for most purposes this single instrument replaces the capabilities of UFTI, IRCAM3 and CGS4.

Telescope and instrument reliability has always been a feature of UKIRT operations. It is telling, and a tribute to the well-maintained state of these systems and the dedication of the staff who support them, that during the Michelle commissioning period I have had the pleasure of supplying the JAC with "zero time lost" doughnuts in no less than three separate weeks! Clearly the telescope is performing well, and users of the current instrument complement are taking full scientific advantage.

Meanwhile at the UKATC in Edinburgh, work on the wide field imager WFCAM is progressing, with key decisions taken in a number of areas (such as the location of the autoguider), and tendering is in progress on the major optical components and about to begin on the new (faster) secondary mirror unit. In preparation for the arrival of WFCAM in late 2003, the UK community is getting together in a consortium known as UKIDSS, to discuss the use of WFCAM for large surveys of unprecedented depth.

Finally, John Davies' departure (noted further elsewhere in this issue) has produced another experiential gap in UKIRT's staff complement. We wish John well in his new position at the UKATC.