{"id":29043,"date":"2014-10-31T10:48:34","date_gmt":"2014-10-31T20:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=29043"},"modified":"2021-10-21T14:27:47","modified_gmt":"2021-10-22T00:27:47","slug":"uh-assumes-ownership-of-united-kingdom-infrared-telescope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2014\/10\/31\/uh-assumes-ownership-of-united-kingdom-infrared-telescope\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr> assumes ownership of United Kingdom Infrared telescope"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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United Kingdom Infrared Telescope on Maunakea (credit: United Kingdom Infrared Telescope)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span><\/a> will today assume ownership of the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope<\/a> (UKIRT<\/abbr>) on Maunakea. UKIRT<\/abbr> is one of the world’s leading astronomical infrared observatories.<\/p>\n

UH<\/abbr> President David Lassner<\/strong> said, “We are pleased to steward UKIRT<\/abbr>, a telescope that has made remarkable discoveries supporting the advancement of astronomical science. It is fitting to add it to our world-class portfolio of research assets, as UKIRT<\/abbr> has pioneered many operational innovations, including flexible scheduling and the provision of data reduction pipelines.”<\/p>\n

UKIRT<\/abbr> has been operating at peak productivity, with more than 200 scientific publications annually. This is largely based on a very successful scientific program, which has extended infrared survey imaging to unprecedented depths and areas. Despite UKIRT<\/abbr>’s success, its funding agency, the Science and Technologies Facilities Council<\/a> (STFC<\/abbr>), announced in 2012 that it could no longer continue to support the telescope. This decision followed a review of the UK<\/abbr>’s suite of observational capabilities in a tightly constrained financial environment.<\/p>\n

Upon the cessation of UK<\/abbr>-funded operations, the existing sublease for UKIRT<\/abbr> will be terminated. The facility and responsibility for the site, including the telescope, all instruments, associated equipment and software, will transfer to the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>.<\/p>\n

UH<\/abbr> has negotiated a Scientific Cooperation Agreement with the University of Arizona<\/a> and Lockheed Martin Space Technology Advanced Research and Development Laboratories<\/a> to provide for UKIRT<\/abbr>’s continued scientific operation, initially using only the large infrared camera used for the survey work. The new operators have also started to refurbish and re-commission several of UKIRT<\/abbr>’s other instruments.<\/p>\n

Guenther Hasinger<\/strong>, director of the UH<\/abbr> Institute for Astronomy<\/a> said, “We are delighted that UKIRT<\/abbr> will continue to produce top quality astronomical research. With a capable new operator and state-of-the-art instrumentation, UKIRT<\/abbr> can continue to be a world leader in infrared astronomy for at least 10 more years.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UH<\/abbr> will assume ownership of the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope on Maunakea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[34,35,659,9,947],"class_list":["post-29043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-astronomy","tag-institute-for-astronomy","tag-maunakea","tag-uh-manoa","tag-uh-system","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t