Siding Spring Observatory Director's Report
Published in the RSAA Lunations
Vol1 Issue68 1–30 November 2025
The year 2025 is not quite over yet, but it is already safe to say that it was one of the more suspenseful years in the history of Siding Spring Observatory. There were and are various changes, and even where things stayed the same, they somehow made sure that they remained unpredictable until the 11th hour. We are, of course, referring to the new round of Commonwealth funding received for the AAT which was announced unusually late in the process, and our gratitude goes out to the SSO Staff for hanging in there until the uncertainty was removed.
Changes involved a mid-year handover of the Directorship from one Chris to two Chris’s (we are doubling down on our SSO commitment :-), a change in the operational model to accommodate strategic key surveys at the AAT, carried out on behalf of a consortium of Australian astronomers and universities, and the first heartbeats in the resuscitation of a previously deceased instrument, the glorious 2dF, on which two out of the four strategic key surveys will be relying. In the meantime, Hector is powering on dissecting galaxies as if there was no tomorrow, and Veloce is hunting down exoplanets, at least when it’s not taken over by the Galactic archaeologists, while 2dF is in the incubator.
Also in 2025, several space agencies have lined up to negotiate opportunities to install new facilities at SSO, mostly aimed at helping to secure the safety of flight of satellites that we rely on, without realising, for a surprising range of aspects in our daily lives. The Italian Space Agency is ready to sign contracts for FlyEye, while two more contracts are in preparation as the Japanese Space Agency has just decided to fund the Optical Fence project, and the Korean Space Agency is pursuing their new telescope “BRAHE”. Also, Macquarie University will bring an additional facility developed by a US-based partner. Further parties are knocking on our doors, and while space on the SSO ridge is getting a little short, these activities are not only meaningful for civilisation but also help to ensure that SSO remains a financially viable site and facility for ANU.
It is a good thing when we say, “The future of SSO is dark”, as most new developments within 200 km of SSO are renewable energy projects, solar panels, wind farms and battery storage that all safely operate in darkness and do not emit dust either. Occasionally, the skies become surprisingly bright with solar activity this year delivering a bumper crop of aurorae that have attracted much attention (see photo). Public visitor numbers to SSO have doubled, and several influential visitors have been surprised and impressed by their experience of SSO. Further upgrades at the Café and Exploratory have happened and will continue into 2026.
Staff have seen a couple of retirements this year and efforts are underway to replace them, step by step. As with every organisation that is reaching for the stars, the biggest asset is its staff, who underpin all the success of the work that is pursued. Astronomy is lucky in being a media darling, and both the AAT and the ANU 2.3m have had astonishing impact, reaching well over 100 million viewers, readers and listeners worldwide with the stories that have come out during 2024 and 2025 alone.
Christian Wolf
Image: Aurorae above Siding Spring Observatory on 13 Nov 2025 (Credit: Christian Sasse, iTelescope)
