THE UNITED KINGDOM INFRARED TELESCOPE
ANNUAL REPORT
1997

Introduction

M.J. Ward, Chairman, UKIRT Board

It has become something of a cliche to claim that a telescope or satellite contributes to astronomy from comets to cosmology, but this is indisputably the case for UKIRT.

During the period covered by this report observations made using UKIRT include the following notable achievements. Within our solar system the sizes and albedos of a number of asteroids have been measured, using combined observations by UKIRT and ISO. Nitrogen rich organic molecules have been detected in one of Saturn's moons. Our understanding of stellar evolution has been increased by the discovery of 20 new brown dwarfs. At greater distances the host galaxies of quasars have been imaged with spatial resolutions at K-band of around 0.4 arcseconds, made possible by the excellent performance of the fast guide tip-tilt system. The power of the CGS4 spectrograph has been magnificently demonstrated by observations between the OH sky lines, of H beta and [OIII] emission lines in galaxies at redshifts greater than 3, at line fluxes many times weaker than previously achieved. These and other discoveries have resulted in a record number of 84 refereed publications which included UKIRT data, in a single year.

There have been some delays associated with the provision of new instruments, but we look forward to the imminent arrival of the Fast-Track Imager UFTI, designed to exploit the improved image quality of UKIRT, and later to the commissioning of MICHELLE, which is the mid-infrared imager spectrometer to be shared between UKIRT and Gemini.

Looking towards the future, work commenced on the new near-infrared imager spectrometer UIST, which will eventually become the workhorse instrument for this spectral range. Still in the planning stage the concept of a UKIRT wide-field instrument has been gaining momentum, and a census of the UKIRT user community suggested that there would be majority support for such a camera, provided that a significant fraction of the time remained to be allocated for programmes using non-survey instruments.

In current forward-look plans, the UK's telescope suite is increasely seen in a global context, with operational modes and the delivery of specific science objectives, often important factors in the setting of priorities. UKIRT measures up well under these criteria. The focus of its programme remains aimed at optimization in the infrared, by providing a choice of instruments designed especially for imaging and spectroscopy at near and mid-infrared wavelengths. A challenge for the future will be to determine the best balance between the previously highly successful and scientifically productive mode of community access, and the delivery of possible future programmes based for example on data from a new dedicated instrument, such as a wide-field camera.