SSO Director Update

Published in the RSAA Lunations
Vol1 Issue70 1–31 March 2026

This month at SSO saw the hiring of a new AAT Night Assistant, Rishika Prabhakaran. We look forward to many clear nights of AAT operations under Rishika's control.

March also saw the site used for a vertical rescue and confined space training exercise by NSW Police rescue units and VRA Rescue NSW. The photo gives a flavour of the adventures they had. (No, astronomers may not apply to use the AAT in such a manner.)

Finally, the AAT saw significant progress on a major engineering project: the installation of a support rail along the telescope struts, which will make the installation of the Hector instrument faster and safer for staff and equipment. It was a challenging process, involving lots of activity from elevated work platforms, but the staff planned and executed the work with great professionalism. Well done!

Image: Dizzying training adventures at the AAT. Credit: Steve Chapman