Australian Sky & Telescope - June 2018

http://www.skyandtelescope.com.au 15

W VERDANT SKIES Siding Spring

Observatory in New South Wales is dominated

by the dome of the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian

Telescope (centre). On the extreme left is

the 1.3-m ANU SkyMapper Telescope, while

the 1.2-m UK Schmidt Telescope and Las

Cumbres Observatory 2.0-m Telescope are on

the right.

S QUIET ACHIEVER The world-famous

3.9-m Anglo-Australian Telescope, on its giant

horseshoe mount, was opened by Prince

Charles in 1974.

Minister for Industry, Innovation and

Science, and Professor Tim de Zeeuw,

then ESO Director-General.

The Strategic Partnership provides

Australian astronomers with long-

term access to the world’s most

comprehensive suite of optical

astronomy facilities, at La Silla and

Cerro Paranal in northern Chile. The

ability to use the four 8.2-m telescopes

of ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT)

at Paranal is an important prize for

Australian astronomers, fulfilling the

critical requirement for access to this

class of instrument.

The new deal also explicitly aims

to capitalise on Australian know-how

in instrumentation, with promised

benefits for domestic universities and

industry. Australia-based astronomers

can now access a range of professional

and research opportunities, such

as fellowships, scholarships and

employment; Australian companies

can tender for work at the La Silla and

Paranal facilities; and Australian optical

instrumentation groups can bid for the

construction of any hardware required

at those facilities.

Excluded from the new partnership

are ESO’s Atacama Large Millimetre

Array (ALMA) and the 39.3-metre

European Extremely Large Telescope

(E-ELT), currently under construction

at Cerro Armazones (near Paranal).

At the conclusion of the strategic

partnership in 2028, Australia will

have the opportunity to enter into full

membership of ESO, with access to both

ALMA and E-ELT.

Embracing the new era
The Australian Government has a
long tradition of partnering with the
astronomy community and making
strategic investments at the right time
for the benefit of research excellence
and industry innovation. The next
generation of astronomy infrastructure
is financially beyond the reach of any
single nation, which is why partnering
with organisations such as ESO is
critical to our global competitiveness.
The government’s initiative in
forging the partnership with ESO
has been widely praised within the
Australian astronomical community.
The concomitant change, however —
which, at the time of writing, is in the
final stages of formulation — heralds
ÁNGEL LÓPEZ-SÁNCHEZ the biggest makeover in the 44-year