13 October 2011
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Professor Stuart
Wyithe |
Professor Russell Cannon, one of the book's editors, signing copies for Professor Brian Schmidt (ANU) and Professor Elaine Sadler (University of Sydney). Photo: Stuart Ryder |
The cover of the book, which is a 353-page hardback. |
A book celebrating the history of one of Australia’s great astronomical
observatories has been launched by Professor Stuart Wyithe of the University
of Melbourne. Professor Wyithe, an astronomer, was the winner of the 2011
Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year, one of the Prime
Minister's Science Prizes.
Celebrating the AAO: Past, Present and Future
brings together much of the rich history of the Australian Astronomical
Observatory, formerly the Anglo-Australian Observatory, from many points
of view.
"This book marks a key event in the lifetime of the AAO", said
Associate Professor Andrew Hopkins, Head of AAT Science. "The transition
to full Australian ownership of the Observatory in 2010 was smooth and successful,
the AAO continues to be as productive as it has ever been, and this book
captures those past and current successes for posterity."
Astronomy is one of Australia’s strongest fields of science in terms
of international impact. And within Australian astronomy, the AAO has been
one of the top-performing institutions since its creation in the 1970s.
It is Australia's national optical observatory, and operates the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian
Telescope and the 1.2-m UK Schmidt Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory
in New South Wales, Australia.
Celebrating the AAO, edited by Russell Cannon
(one of the AAO’s former Directors) and David Malin (the AAO's prize-winning
astrophotographer), is a compilation of papers presented at week-long symposium
of the same name in 2010. The symposium marked the end of the AAO an Australian-UK
institution and the beginning of the next phase of its life, as a wholly
Australian entity, now part of the Commonwealth Department of Innovation,
Industry, Science and Research.
A previous book, The Creation of the AAO, by Ben
Gascoigne, Katrina Proust and Malcolm Robins, dealt mainly with the political
and institutional circumstances involved in the organisation's creation,
and technical aspects of its flagship telescope, the four-metre Anglo-Australian
Telescope (the largest on Australian soil). But the many developments since
then had not been recorded in a single place. This book does much to fill
that gap.
The AAO was established to provide observing facilities for both the Australian
and UK astronomy communities, and so its users came (and come) from many
institutions. There is also an "AAO diaspora" of former staff,
both technical and scientific, who have moved on to other institutions around
the world. The contributions in the book, therefore, come from a very wide
range of sources.
They also cover a wide range of technical, institutional and scientific
topics, from the role of the institution’s Board to the effort involved
in creating ground-breaking new instruments. This is the living world of
an observatory. When people outside astronomy think of the field, they think
primarily of the astronomers, and of the telescopes, but this book shows
the vast, complex enterprise involved in supporting astronomers and keeping
telescopes running. The humour, creativity and dedication of the AAO staff
shine through.
The book is in colour throughout, and the illustrations include many personal
photographs supplied by the contributors.
Although the book is largely retrospective, it does touch upon the AAO's
present activities and future plans. Speaking at the launch, Associate Professor
Andrew Hopkins of the AAO noted that "the AAO continues to exploit
its expertise in innovative instrumentation. We are currently building the
HERMES high-resolution multi-object spectrograph, and using new astrophotonic
technologies developed in collaboration with the AAO, we continue to lead
the world in exciting new astronomical developments. Through clever instrumentation
allowing astronomers to explore the universe in innovative and different
ways, the AAO is well-positioned to continue at the forefront of astronomical
discoveries in the decade to come."
Associate Professor Andrew Hopkins, Australian Astronomical Observatory
T: 02 9372 4849
M: 0432 855 049
E: ahopkins@aao.gov.au
Dowload from here.
