Aussie telescope still a world leader

[JonathanN]

Hi all,

I just thought I'd bring this to your attention, if it hasn't already been mentioned here. A recent study has shown that the 30-plus-year-old Anglo-Australian Telescope is ranked number one in the world for a telescope of its class (ie. 4m) based on two important criteria, and it ranks number five out of ALL telescopes -- ground- or space-based -- on those same criteria. Pretty fantastic.

More details at www.spaceinfo.com.au (http://www.spaceinfo.com.au)

Cheers,

Jonathan



Jonathan Nally
Editor
SpaceInfo.com.au
www.spaceinfo.com.au (http://www.spaceinfo.com.au)

[h0ughy]

that is great news Jonathan - which highlights the fact we don't necessarily always need the biggest and latest gear (did I really say that??:whistle::doh::screwy:)

We (as in Australia) really survives on bugger all budget, but we get bang for bucks - no hadron here....;)

[Quark]

Hi Jonathan,
It is great news that the AAT is still held in such high esteem and is still so productive. It really is essential, I think, to have a world class optical telescope in this country.

Although it is good to have an interest in Gemini, I think as a matter of national pride, we should still have our own major instrument in Australia.

Australian's have made such significant contributions to astronomy, particularly radio astronomy that we need our government to support a major prescience in this field.

Regards
Trevor