SSO News
Published in the RSAA Lunations
Vol1 Issue10 1–30 November 2020
The Uppsala 0.5 metre Schmidt Telescope was recently removed from the Uppsala dome at SSO. The dome, which is mostly made of plywood, had deteriorated to the point where you could poke your finger through it. It was no longer protecting the telescope from the elements, so a decision to remove the telescope was made earlier this year.
Built in 1956 in Sweden, the telescope was located at Mount Stromlo between 1957 and 1982. It played an important role in the development of the Observatory, where it was used in photographic studies of the Milky Way. The telescope also took the first known images of the Sputnik 1 satellite – the first man-made satellite that was put into orbit around the Earth by the USSR in 1957 – and map its orbit. In the political climate of the time, this achievement provided the opportunity for RSAA director Bart Bok to address a joint session of both houses of Parliament, which he ultimately used to obtain funding for a new observatory site (SSO) and to gain political support for establishing the Anglo-Australian Telescope.
In 1982, the Uppsala Schmidt was moved to Siding Spring where it continued to be used photographically until the late 1990s. It was then upgraded with a 4x4K CCD by the Uni. of Arizona. The Uppsala was the telescope with which the Siding Spring Survey (part of the Uni. Of Arizona Catalina Sky Survey) not only discovered over 400 potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroids, but also discovered the Great Daylight Comet of 2007 (aka C/2006 P1), which was the brightest comet seen in over 40 years.
The mechanical team at SSO were assigned the task of dismantling the telescope in preparation for transport to its new home.
Because of the nature of the project, there was a lot of planning. Saddle frames for transport had to be designed and fabricated, and these had to be completed before the dismantling could begin. A test lift with our truck mounted Hyab crane was conducted to confirm we could lift the telescope out without the need for calling in a bigger crane. The mirror and corrector were removed, and the telescope was then stripped down to a manageable weight for our Hyab crane. At times it took all 3 of the mechanical team to crane out the various parts of the telescope. Thanks to all for a job well done.
The Uppsala Schmidt has been donated to the Tamworth Regional Astronomy Club (TRAC). They will come to SSO in early November to pick up the telescope. We wish the TRAC all the best in restoring and using the telescope and we look forward to visiting Tamworth to see the refurbished telescope in action.
More Photos can be found here
Randal Darko and Chris Lidman, with help from Rob McNaught, and using material from the ANU Heritage Management Plan
