Anthony HortonLast month I visited some 25 year old telescopes, today I visited one that is 50 years old. Happy Birthday to the Anglo-Australian Telescope!
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.
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
Steveg58@spacelizard
OMG Interdata!
OMG Interdata!
@Steveg58 We wondered at the time whether it was the oldest Model 70 still doing real work. By the time it was finally retired it had been running the telescope every night for 34 years.
@spacelizard
I encountered models 7/32 and 8/32 at Murdoch University and Australian DoD but the model 70 predates them.
I encountered models 7/32 and 8/32 at Murdoch University and Australian DoD but the model 70 predates them.
CharlieG@spacelizard I mean, this is a *proper* control panel. Proper space control room vibes.
Georg TuparevHere are my personal connections - Rozhen, Bulgaria.
I was fixing computers and software ... although I had to learn for my final school exams. Luckily my teachers closed one eye or two đŸ˜‚
Nostalgia…
Frank Skornia@spacelizard I like that it looks like the telescope grew out of a giant avocado.
Mark H@spacelizard I saw the photos and was reminded of when we visited the Victor M. Blanco telescope in Chile several years ago, and I see from Wikipedia that the Anglo-Australian was the southern hemisphere's largest telescope until the one we saw in Chile was built.
@neonbubble Yes, there were a series of 4-ish metre diameter telescopes built in the 1970s with similar designs, in particular the horseshoe equatorial mounts. There's the Anglo-Australian Telescope, the Blanco and Mayall telescopes, and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. The ESO 3.6 metre is from the same era and also has an equatorial horseshoe mount, but is less similar to the others.
blurk@spacelizard Only 50yo? That’s scary. That means it must’ve only been a few years old when I first visited it (1st year physics astronomy trip.)