THE UNITED KINGDOM INFRARED TELESCOPE
ANNUAL REPORT
1995 AND 1996

1. The United Kingdom Infrared Telescope

The United Kingdom Infrared telescope (UKIRT) is sited in Hawaii near the summit of Mauna Kea at an altitude of 4194m above sea level. UKIRT is owned by the United Kingdom Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) and operated along with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope by the staff of the Joint Astronomy Centre, located in Hilo. In 1995 and 1996 the operation and development of UKIRT were overseen by the UKIRT Steering Committee.

The mission of the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) is to provide wide-ranging opportunities for state-of-the-art astronomical observations at ground-based infrared wavelengths (roughly 1-25 microns). To this end new observing instruments are being built in the U.K. for use at the telescope and the capabilities of existing instruments are being enhanced wherever possible. In addition, the UKIRT Upgrades Programme, a comprehensive project to upgrade the image quality of the telescope, was under way in 1995 and 1996, with major contributions being made by the Royal Observatories in the U.K., the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, and the Joint Astronomy Centre.

During 1995 and 1996 the UKIRT operation had a staff of approximately 29 full-time employees in Hawaii, and a small supporting staff at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh. Awards of U.K.-controlled observing time on UKIRT, 85% of the total available observing time, are decided by the Panel for the Allocation of Telescope Time (PATT). The University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy allocates 15% of the time to its scientists. During the two years covered by this report scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany have used roughly four weeks per year of U.K. time in exchange for the Institute's ongoing contributions to the UKIRT Upgrades Programme.