THE UNITED KINGDOM INFRARED TELESCOPE
ANNUAL REPORT
1999

Introduction

S.J. Warren, Chairman, UKIRT Board

The previous annual report (1998) described the improvements brought about by the upgrades programme, and the splendid imaging performance that UKIRT observers now enjoy. The upgrades programme is all but complete and was a major milestone, but the efforts of the UKIRT staff to enhance further the performance and reliability of the telescope, the efficiency of operations, and the level of service, have continued through 1999. Principal among these has been the implementation of the first stage of the ORAC software system, and observers have been enthusiastic about the ease of use and the fast and sophisticated data reduction. Other advances have been the commissioning of polarimetry capability with IRPOL on the UFTI and CGS4 instruments, the acquisition of a new secondary mirror, the implementation of automatic telescope focus, and the first trials of flexible scheduling, which can be expected eventually to become the norm, allowing programmes that require exceptional seeing, or low water vapour column, to be implemented when the conditions allow. The fault rate over 1999 was only 2.6% of science time, and the observer reports show clearly that astronomers using UKIRT appreciate the high level of service provided by the staff. In 2000 the final element of the upgrades programme, cooling of the primary mirror, will be completed and observers can expect excellent image quality most of the time.

The interest in the near infrared continues to grow. There are two areas which have been particularly active, the detection of highly reddened distant galaxies (EROs, sub-mm galaxies, and obscured X-ray sources), and the study of brown dwarfs (the newly defined L and T classes). As reported under ``Scientific Highlights'' astronomers using UKIRT have been at the forefront of these new fields as they have opened up.

Progress on Michelle was disappointing through 1999, but at the time of writing the corner has been turned. UKIRT has an active instrumentation programme, adapted to the advent of Gemini, that will keep the telescope in heavy demand at the opening of the new millennium.