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The telescope has various foci for flexible instrumentation: originally there were three top-end rings which can be exchanged using the dome crane during the daytime. One was for f/3.3 prime-focus, with corrector lenses and a cage for a human observer taking photographs (rarely used after the 1980s);
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The telescope is housed within a seven-story, circular, concrete building topped with a 36m diameter rotating steel dome. It was designed to withstand the high winds prevailing at that location. The slit is narrow. The dome is required to move with the telescope to avoid obstruction. The top of the
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to join the project. Gorton brought the proposal before cabinet in April 1967, which endorsed the scheme and agreed to contribute half the capital and running costs. An agreement with the
British was finalised a few weeks later and a Joint Policy Committee started work on construction planning in
535:
The newest instrument, HERMES, was commissioned in 2015. It is a new high-resolution spectrograph to be used with the 2dF fibre positioner. HERMES is mainly being used for the 'Galactic
Archaeology with Hermes' (GALAH) Survey, which aims to reconstruct the history of our galaxy's formation from
363:
The telescope was commissioned in 1974 with a view to allowing high-quality observations of the sky from the
Southern Hemisphere. At the time, most major telescopes were located in the Northern Hemisphere, leaving the southern skies poorly observed. It was the largest telescope in the Southern
372:(VLT) was opened. The AAT was credited with stimulating a resurgence in British optical astronomy. It was built by the United Kingdom in partnership with Australia but has been entirely funded by Australia since 2010. Observing time is available to astronomers worldwide.
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focus; and a third top-end has smaller f/15 and f/36 secondary mirrors. A fourth top-end was built in the 1990s to give a 2-degree field of view at prime focus, with 400 optical fibres feeding the 2dF instrument and its later enhancements
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The telescope tube structure is supported inside a massive 12m diameter horseshoe, which rotates around the polar axis (parallel to Earth's axis) for tracking the sky. The total moving mass is 260 tonnes.
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and the gearing system needed improvements. Although the revised gear system was considerably more expensive it was significantly more accurate, lending itself well to future applications.
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August 1967. It took until
September 1969 for plans to be finalised. The agreement initially committed the specification to a telescope design based on the American
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989:"Australia's largest optical telescope to become part of the Australian Astronomical Observatory on 1 July 2010 and to celebrate its 36th birthday"
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383:. The AAT was, however, one of the first telescopes to be fully computer-controlled, and set new standards for pointing and tracking accuracy.
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321:
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Online catalogue of building project papers (part of the Royal
Greenwich Observatory Archives held at Cambridge University Library)
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inviting the federal government to support a joint
British-Australian telescope project. Gorton was supportive, and nominated the
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520:Échelle Spectrograph (UCLES), a high-resolution optical spectrograph which has been used to discover many
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precise multi-element (~25 elements) abundances of 1 million stars derived from HERMES spectra.
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as
Australia's representatives in the joint venture; he was unsuccessful in his attempts to induce
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pushed for a large optical telescope for the
Southern Hemisphere in 1959. In 1965,
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in Toledo, Ohio. It was then transported to
Newcastle, England, where
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occurred on 27 April 1974. The telescope was officially opened by
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Explorers of the
Southern Sky: A History of Australian Astronomy
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The AAT is equipped with a number of instruments, including:
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927:"Australian Telescope Leads the World in Astronomy Research"
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The AAT was one of the last large telescopes built with an
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Largest optical astronomical telescopes in the late 1970s
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took two years to grind and polish the mirror's surface.
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Hemisphere from 1974 to 1976, then a close second to the
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List of largest optical telescopes in the 20th century
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built the mount which was constructed by August 1973.
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telescope until its deficiencies were known. Both the
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1080:. Cambridge University Press. pp. 382–394.
468:one has a large secondary mirror giving an f/8
874:List of largest optical reflecting telescopes
16:Australian Astronomical Observatory telescope
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403:, wrote to the federal education minister
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305:Location of Anglo-Australian Telescope
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925:Plonter, Tammy (11 September 2008).
204:3.9 m (12 ft 10 in)
354:Australian Astronomical Observatory
232:12.7 m (41 ft 8 in)
115:Australian Astronomical Observatory
40:Australian Astronomical Observatory
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1315:1974 establishments in Australia
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1109:"The Anglo-Australian Telescope"
952:Australian Science in the Making
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460:dome is 50m above ground level.
437:Sir Howard Grubb, Parsons and Co
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217:12 m (130 sq ft)
897:Watson, Fred (6 January 2009).
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509:of up to 400 objects over a 2°
497:The Two Degree Field facility (
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1008:John Gorton: He Did It His Way
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409:Australian National University
1:
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858:1,283 m (4,209 ft)
817:2,400 m (7,900 ft)
776:1,742 m (5,715 ft)
735:2,200 m (7,200 ft)
694:2,120 m (6,960 ft)
653:1,713 m (5,620 ft)
612:2,070 m (6,790 ft)
431:The mirror blank was made by
401:Australian Academy of Science
132:1,100 m (3,600 ft)
949:Home, Roderick Weir (1990).
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393:Richard van der Riet Woolley
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1010:. Hodder. pp. 120–121.
987:Lomb, Nick (15 June 2010).
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272:/anglo-australian-telescope
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749:Anglo-Australian Telescope
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708:Víctor M. Blanco Telescope
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366:Víctor M. Blanco Telescope
352:telescope operated by the
342:Anglo-Australian Telescope
22:Anglo-Australian Telescope
1310:Siding Spring Observatory
904:The Sydney Morning Herald
755:Siding Spring Observatory
591:Special Astrophysical Obs
518:University College London
505:positioner for obtaining
358:Siding Spring Observatory
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1074:Haynes, Raymond (1996).
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531:camera and spectrograph.
322:Related media on Commons
1031:Oxford University Press
673:Kitt Peak National Obs.
455:Structure and telescope
1021:Gregory, Jane (2005).
490:
1025:Fred Hoyle's Universe
1006:Hancock, Ian (2002).
899:"Across the universe"
488:
1135:"HERMES project AAT"
796:La Silla Observatory
527:IRIS2, a wide-field
451:on 16 October 1974.
370:Very Large Telescope
356:and situated at the
350:equatorially mounted
245:spherical dome
214:Collecting area
183:Cassegrain reflector
179:Telescope style
790:ESO 3.6 m Telescope
632:Palomar Observatory
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441:Mitsubishi Electric
399:, president of the
391:British astronomer
167:27 April 1974
90:31.2754°S 149.067°E
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1305:Optical telescopes
993:Sydney Observatory
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522:extrasolar planets
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1115:on 9 January 2021
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1265:Solar System
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1113:the original
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852:305 cm
811:357 cm
770:389 cm
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729:401 cm
688:401 cm
647:508 cm
606:605 cm
555:Observatory
534:
507:spectroscopy
492:
477:and HERMES.
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228:Focal length
111:Organization
18:
1253:Outer space
1241:Spaceflight
814:8.8 m
540:Comparisons
481:Instruments
445:First light
405:John Gorton
93: /
81:149°04′01″E
69:Coordinates
58:Location(s)
1299:Categories
1087:0521365759
1044:0191578460
1033:. p.
972:6 December
966:0521396409
910:8 November
885:References
855:~7 m
773:12 m
732:10 m
691:10 m
650:20 m
609:26 m
470:Cassegrain
78:31°16′31″S
1277:Education
1217:Astronomy
1205:Australia
569:Altitude
561:Aperture
422:Kitt Peak
270:/about-us
242:Enclosure
1145:15 April
1119:27 April
1093:15 April
1050:15 April
868:See also
529:infrared
201:Diameter
129:Altitude
1289:Science
1179:Portals
475:AAOmega
387:History
257:Website
147: (
36:Part of
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574:Light
558:Image
553:Name /
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1229:Stars
861:1959
820:1976
779:1974
738:1976
697:1973
656:1949
615:1975
585:BTA-6
572:First
566:Area
413:CSIRO
329:[
149:–1974
145:–1974
142:Built
64:, AUS
1147:2013
1121:2018
1095:2013
1082:ISBN
1052:2013
1039:ISBN
974:2015
961:ISBN
912:2011
516:The
417:NASA
411:and
340:The
266:.gov
264:.aao
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499:2dF
346:AAT
268:.au
262:www
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564:M1
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