304:. The mirror's accuracy despite its very low weight and thickness was partly achieved by sitting it on concentric circles of aluminum pistons/air cells, 80 in all. Computer control of these pneumatic pistons enabled stresses in the glass to be canceled out effectively modeling the behavior of a much thicker mirror. This novel technique resulted in optical performance considerably better than the procurement specification. The instrument was mounted on an 'English Equatorial mounting' or yoke which sits on ball-bearings on steel piers, swinging east–west and rotating around north–south. The geometry of the mount limits the telescopes access to objects between +60 and −40 degrees of declination but it is extremely sturdy and free from deformation and so allows very accurate pointing. The entire structure was built on massive ball bearings held rigid by shear pins to afford earthquake protection. Pointing control of the axis was provided by pairs of printed circuit motors driven in opposition to cancel backlash controlled by a DEC PDP11/40 computer system.<The Life Story of an Infrared Telescope by John K. Davies>
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University of Hawaii. It is now operated under a
Scientific Cooperation Agreement among the University of Arizona, the University of Hawaii and Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center. Funding for operations is currently being provided by the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office. Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona is responsible for daily operations and scientific productivity. Technical support is provided by the
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database and data feedback mechanisms. Since 2003, using these two software enhancements, UKIRT has carried out highly efficient flexible scheduling – tailoring observation execution to the prevailing weather conditions. Observations are selected from the database according to the current seeing, atmospheric water vapor, sky transparency, and a science priority allocated by the telescope time allocation panel.
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338:, UKIDSS). This project takes some 80% of the available telescope time in wide-field mode. Wide-field takes some 60% of the telescope; the other 40% is devoted to operations with the Cassegrain instrumentation. In December 2008 it was announced that the telescope would be moving to wide-field mode full-time
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device with a thin primary mirror, around 2/3 thinner than in other contemporary devices and weighing only 6.5 tonnes. When trying to view distant objects in infra-red local sources of heat must be minimised, to this end a lighter mirror requires lower power motors and control systems creating less
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ranging from 0.8 arcseconds at dusk to 0.5 arcseconds in the early morning. Between 1998 and 2003, two major software projects were undertaken – the ORAC project providing a major upgrade to the user interface and automating telescope operations, and the OMP providing a comprehensive observation
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It was announced on 16 December 2009 that the telescope was "subject to discussions leading to managed withdrawal". In 2012, its shutdown for end of the 2013 was announced. The possibility of transfer was noted as a possibility. On
October 30, 2014 the telescope ownership was transferred to the
279:. UKIRT is currently being funded by NASA and operated under scientific cooperation between Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center, the University of Hawaii, and the U. S. Naval Observatory. The telescope is set to be decommissioned after completion of the
331:, which built the first telescope in the area, said "it has been sometimes a source of embarrassment ... that there are two of them at the same place at the same time. The natural question is asked, Why two? Why don't you build one and share it?".
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Though it was built inexpensively, UKIRT has been extensively upgraded. A program of improvements from 1990 to 1998 greatly improved the imaging performance, and in 2001 the telescope delivered median infrared
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WFCAM (at forward
Cassegrain) is a wide-field imager with four 2048x2048 arrays, each of which covers a field 13.6 arcminutes on a side, for a total field of view of about 0.2 square degrees.
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in 2011. The quasar could not be seen in visible light, but could in the longer wavelengths observed by UKIRT. The UKIDSS observations allowed astronomers to find the most distant
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UKIRT has four
Cassegrain instruments of which 3 can be on the telescope at the same time and a wide-field imager placed forward of the Cassegrain focus.
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in 2011. It took five years to find this item but once found, other telescopes such as the VLT further analyzed it.
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In July 2006, UKIRT released the DR1 data set for the United
Kingdom Infrared Telescope Infrared Deep Sky Survey.
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With the delivery of the wide-field imager WFCAM in 2004, UKIRT began a revolutionary large-scale sky survey (the
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of
Newcastle. Originally known as the Infrared Flux Collector, it began operation in October 1979.
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heat. The mirror is held in a massive steel 'cell' of 20 tonnes which is linked to the supports by
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The telescope was built between 1975 and 1978; the mechanical systems were built by
Dunford
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in a minimalist operation mode with no observers present. Most of the time is used by the
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Michelle is a 320x240 pixel mid-infrared imager/spectrometer operating between 10 and 20
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634:(PDF) The United Kingdom Infrared Telescope Infrared Deep Sky Survey First Data Release
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A UKIRT infrared survey was used to discover a redshift distance record breaking
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533:(Oral history). Interviewed by Spencer Weart. American Institute of Physics
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UIST is a 1024x1024 pixel imager/spectrometer operating between 0.8 and 5
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UFTI is a 1024x1024 pixel imager operating between 0.8 and 2.5
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Since
December 13, 2010 UKIRT has been operated remotely from
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List of largest optical telescopes in the 20th century
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500:"Third Maunakea observatory set for decommissioning"
646:"Home – Science and Technology Facilities Council"
852:Buildings and structures in Hawaii County, Hawaii
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693:"UKIRT Transferred to the University of Hawai'i"
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383:CGS4 is a cooled-grating spectrometer with a 90-
204:Location of United Kingdom Infrared Telescope
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470:List of most distant astronomical objects
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558:(Thursday, 30 June 2011) – Cosmos Online
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16:Infrared reflecting telescope in Hawaii
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323:It was built at the same time as the
275:. It was owned by the United Kingdom
847:Astronomical observatories in Hawaii
606:"Seeing statistics at UKIRT in 2001"
556:Universe’s most distant quasar found
510:from the original on 4 November 2016
267:. Until 2014 it was operated by the
465:List of largest infrared telescopes
173:3.8 m (12 ft 6 in)
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241:United Kingdom Infra-Red Telescope
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610:UNITED KINGDOM INFRARED TELESCOPE
247:) is a 3.8 metre (150 inch)
20:United Kingdom Infrared Telescope
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616:from the original on 2006-09-06
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329:Institute for Astronomy
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281:Thirty Meter Telescope
269:Joint Astronomy Centre
34:Alternative names
563:July 3, 2011, at the
442:Continuing operations
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403:micrometres
396:micrometres
263:as part of
251:reflecting
87: /
75:155°28′14″W
63:Coordinates
49:Location(s)
37:UKIRT
836:Categories
703:2021-03-28
660:2018-06-13
620:2021-10-18
590:2015-11-14
537:2023-01-26
514:3 December
486:References
297:Cassegrain
295:, it is a
126:Wavelength
72:19°49′21″N
814:Education
754:Astronomy
385:arcsecond
257:Mauna Kea
253:telescope
697:Archived
677:Archived
654:Archived
614:Archived
584:Archived
561:Archived
508:Archived
475:Redshift
459:See also
434:Research
420:Upgrades
293:Tenerife
249:infrared
170:Diameter
826:Science
728:Portals
308:History
261:Hawai'i
742:Hawaii
427:seeing
361:quasar
357:Quasar
287:Design
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57:Hawaii
766:Stars
245:UKIRT
228:[
674:STFC
516:2015
346:Hilo
273:Hilo
239:The
271:in
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
