During the commissioning of the Anglo-Australian Telescope the Chief Commissioning Astronomer, Ben Gascoigne, was almost killed when he fell from the interior dome catwalk to the main floor of the dome 7 metres below. His colleagues, clearly very sympathetic, named the spot Gascoigne's Leap and erected a plaque, which is still there to this day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Gascoigne#Anglo-Australian_Telescope

#Astrodon #Astronomy #AAT #StarFest

I feel a strong personal connection with the old telescope as a result of working on many related projects over the years.

The most significant is probably the project to replace the telescope control system (TCS). The Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) was one of the first large telescopes to be built with a digital control computer, which gave it unprecedented pointing and tracking accuracy for the time. The original control system, based on an Interdata Model 70 minicomputer, served the telescope well for many years but by the early 2000's it was becoming a bottleneck and a replacement was planned.

In 2005 I was hired by the AAO as an instrument scientist to work on two projects, one of which was the TCS replacement project. I was part of the team that implemented the new control system, allowing the old Interdata to be permanently retired by 2008.

The current AAT control console is a mix of illuminated push buttons and analogue dials and gauges from the original control system and panel mount LCD monitors from the mid 2000's refurb.

Some parts of the original computer were on display in the telescope dome during the Open Day.

#Astrodon #Astronomy #AAT #StarFest