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New telescope will transform our view of the stars
May 26, 1999REF: 99/74
19 MAY 1999
The University of Southampton is one of a consortium of 18 UK universities that has won funding to build a world-leading 'survey' telescope, capable of mapping huge areas of the sky to great depth.
The project to build the telescope is one of thirty-seven successful bids to be awarded funding from the Joint Infrastructure Fund (JIF), a competitive initiative which seeks to transform the scientific research environment in universities. In this the first round of awards from JIF, a total of £150 million has been awarded to over 20 universities; figures for individual awards will be
released shortly.
The four metre telescope planned by the consortium and known as VISTA (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for
Astronomy), will produce 'atlases' of the southern skies in the optical and infrared wavelength using instruments a hundred times more sensitive than anything available in the world. Sited high in the Chilean Andes, the VISTA telescope's sky atlases will provide the most advanced source of reference from which in-depth studies of specific astronomical objects can be made.
'We are thrilled to win funding. Astronomy is one of the UK's scientific strengths but there was a danger that we were going to lose world leadership in astronomical surveys. This telescope will help us to unravel the riddles of how the universe works by providing Southampton and other UK astronomers with the tool to perform cutting-edge survey astronomy for years to come,' said Dr Ian McHardy of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southampton.
'We hope to locate the telescope at one of the outstanding astronomical sites in the high Atacama desert in the foothills of the Andes. The site is remote but is chosen for the outstanding sky quality. Remoteness isn't a problem though, as observations will be conducted by local staff as a service, so that astronomers won't have to lose valuable teaching time by travelling to Chile!' he added.
Southampton, University of
released shortly.
The four metre telescope planned by the consortium and known as VISTA (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for
Astronomy), will produce 'atlases' of the southern skies in the optical and infrared wavelength using instruments a hundred times more sensitive than anything available in the world. Sited high in the Chilean Andes, the VISTA telescope's sky atlases will provide the most advanced source of reference from which in-depth studies of specific astronomical objects can be made.
'We are thrilled to win funding. Astronomy is one of the UK's scientific strengths but there was a danger that we were going to lose world leadership in astronomical surveys. This telescope will help us to unravel the riddles of how the universe works by providing Southampton and other UK astronomers with the tool to perform cutting-edge survey astronomy for years to come,' said Dr Ian McHardy of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southampton.
'We hope to locate the telescope at one of the outstanding astronomical sites in the high Atacama desert in the foothills of the Andes. The site is remote but is chosen for the outstanding sky quality. Remoteness isn't a problem though, as observations will be conducted by local staff as a service, so that astronomers won't have to lose valuable teaching time by travelling to Chile!' he added.
Southampton, University of
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