This year sees Australia’s largest op tical telescope celebrate the 50th anniversary of its opening in October 19 74 by HM King Charles III, then Prince of Wales. Originally owned and opera ted by the Australian and British Governments, the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian T elescope made an immediate impact on optical astronomy by being the first t elescope of its size to work entirely under computer control. Several excit ing decades of discovery and innovation followed, maintaining the telescope in the forefront of astronomical research. That is a position it still occ upies in the field of spectroscopic surveys, operating today under the mana gement of a consortium of Australian universities. In this entertaining and copiously illustrated talk, the telescope’s former Astronomer-in-Charge gi ves an overview of its history, working life and future in an era of much l arger telescopes.
Professor Fred Watson AM is the Australian Government’s Astronomer-at-Large, an outreach, advocacy and advisory role in the Department of Industry, Science and Reso urces. Educated in Scotland at the universities of St Andrews and Edinburgh , Fred worked at both of Britain’s Royal Observatories before joining the A ustralian Astronomical Observatory as Astronomer-in-Charge in 1995. Today, he is best known for his award-winning radio and TV broadcasts, books, musi c, dark-sky advocacy and the Space Nuts podcast. His work also includes pro viding expert astronomy advice to government. Fred is an adjunct professor in several Australian universities. He also has an asteroid named after him (5691 Fredwatson), but says that if it hits the Earth, it won't be his fau lt.
X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:This year sees Australia’s largest op tical telescope celebrate the 50th anniversary of its opening in October 19 74 by HM King Charles III, then Prince of Wales. Originally owned and opera ted by the Australian and British Governments, the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian T elescope made an immediate impact on optical astronomy by being the first t elescope of its size to work entirely under computer control. Several excit ing decades of discovery and innovation followed, maintaining the telescope in the forefront of astronomical research. That is a position it still occ upies in the field of spectroscopic surveys, operating today under the mana gement of a consortium of Australian universities. In this entertaining and copiously illustrated talk, the telescope’s former Astronomer-in-Charge gi ves an overview of its history, working life and future in an era of much l arger telescopes.
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Professor Fred Watson AM is the Australian Government’s Astronome r-at-Large, an outreach, advocacy and advisory role in the Department of In dustry, Science and Resources. Educated in Scotland at the universities of St Andrews and Edinburgh, Fred worked at both of Britain’s Royal Observator ies before joining the Australian Astronomical Observatory as Astronomer-in -Charge in 1995. Today, he is best known for his award-winning radio and TV broadcasts, books, music, dark-sky advocacy and the Space Nuts podcast. Hi s work also includes providing expert astronomy advice to government. Fred is an adjunct professor in several Australian universities. He also has an asteroid named after him (5691 Fredwatson), but says that if it hits the Ea rth, it won't be his fault.
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