News from Siding Spring Observatory
Published in the RSAA Lunations
Vol1 Issue50 1–30 April 2024
Every year around March and April, the AAT primary mirror is removed from the telescope, and lowered to the 2nd floor where the old coat of aluminium is stripped away, and a new coat of aluminium is applied. The process takes several days and involves nearly all the staff at SSO.
In principle, the primary mirror does not need to be aluminised every year. Aluminising it once every two years is probably enough. However, the process is very involved. Aluminising it once a year ensures that we retain the knowledge on how to do it. Later in the year, the ANU 2.3-metre mirror will undergo a similar process using the same aluminising chamber.
Not everything went to plan. On the Wednesday the mirror was due to be re-installed, the mirror elevator in the central pier stopped working. After a bit of investigation, the fault was traced to a limit switch. The mirror elevator was reset, and the freshly coated mirror was installed.
Watch your step – part II
In the February edition of Lunations, Tom Woodrow described his experience of being bitten by a snake. Tom appeared in a recent podcast from the Royal Flying Doctor Service. In the podcast he talks about his experience and his work at SSO.
Staff News
Farewell Ashley Anderson
Ashley Anderson left SSO on 29 March after 5 years of leading the Electronics Team. Ashley made a vital contribution to the running of the AAT and in particular, 2dF. We wish Ashley all the very best for the future.
Welcome Perry Forsyth
We welcome Perry Forsyth to SSO. Perry has joined us a mechatronics engineer and will be working with Li Liu and the team at SSO on refurbishing 2dF. As many of you now, 2dF failed last October and has been taken out of operations. We plan to have 2dF back in operations by 2025.
Image: A photo of the freshly aluminised mirror together with most of those who took part. L-R Back row: Ned Eh-Saleh, Glen Murphy, Sharna Persson, Zach Smith, Matt Balk, Blake Estes ( iTelescope), Gerard Hutchinson, Kevin Dawson; Front Row: Shuzhen Chen, Zoe Holcombe, Ashley Anderson and Li Lui. Soon after coming out of the tank, an 8-legged friend inspected the coating.
