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A New Chapter In UK Astronomy

October 29, 1998

Last week Lord Sainsbury, the Minister for Science, opened the new UK Astronomy Technology Centre. This major centre for astronomy instrumentation will keep UK astronomers in the world-leading position they have traditionally enjoyed.

The Minister said at the time: "The creation of the ATC will forge stronger links between engineers and researchers at the cutting edge of science, while the added efficiency of having a single focus for UK astronomy technology, complementing and supporting the work of Britain's universities, will result in significant economies to help protect and develop British astronomy research in the future.

"The centre's combination of technical expertise and academic excellence means that the ATC will be a key centre for much of British ground-based astronomy in the 21st century. In collaboration with astronomers in universities across the UK and at Britain's telescopes overseas the ATC will develop new instrumentation for UK telescopes and will support the work of existing programmes."

Because of our cloudy and polluted skies the UK's leading optical and infrared telescopes have been sited overseas for more than 20 years - no actual observing was done from the UK's Royal Observatories. Because of this the role of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, which has been based in Cambridge since 1990, and the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh - and even the need for two separate organisations - had inevitably to be reviewed.

Given forecasts of falling demand for the services which the two UK observatories provided, it was clearly not cost-effective or efficient to maintain two separate organisations. After careful scrutiny by independent scientific and financial advisers, the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council last year took the difficult decision to concentrate operations in Edinburgh. That meant the Cambridge facility had to close - which it will this weekend.
The skills and expertise and all the important scientific equipment from the former Cambridge establishment are being preserved - either at the new UK ATC or in British universities. None of the projects at Cambridge are being cancelled because of the closure.

PPARC chief executive Prof Ian Halliday paid tribute to the work of RGO.

"For many years RGO was at the heart of British astronomy, and its staff, with a tradition of excellence, played a major role in its development. That is the legacy of this great institution - a history of top-quality science and instrumentation that PPARC and British universities will build on and take forward."

The important work of furthering the public understanding of science and providing public information will be continued and enhanced at the home of British astronomy - the original Royal Observatory in Greenwich (now run by the National Maritime Museum). The new service - to be headed by former RGO astronomer Dr Robin Catchpole - will develop an expanded education and public understanding programme on the very meridian where the new millennium will begin. A full announcement of these new programmes will be made in early December.

The RGO collection of historical artefacts, scientific instruments, clocks and paintings are also returning to their historic home at Greenwich, where they will be on public display, some for the first time.

Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC)