Departures

Abstract

By late 2000 the UK was in discussions to join the European Southern Observatory, ESO. Despite the injection of extra government funds for the initial investment, in the longer term the financial commitment would require considerable savings from the rest of the UK’s ground-based astronomy programme. Accordingly, Ian Robson, and the other UK observatory directors, were required to put forward various cost saving options that might be implemented over the following 5 years. In response, Ian and Andy Adamson developed three savings models for UKIRT, each with very different levels of savings and operational risk. These ranged from moving gradually to wide-field operations with a resulting run down of staff by natural wastage, to a rapid aggressive savings-driven model which reduced telescope operations and support to the bare minimum. The gradual run-down was considered to save insufficient money and the aggressive plan was thought too risky as it would drastically affect UKIRT just as the considerable investments in new instruments should be paying dividends. So a halfway house model with reduced user support and an intermediate level of change was pencilled into the long-term plans. This, and other elements of restructuring in the UK, including a gradual withdrawal from the Anglo-Australian Observatory and the trading of the VISTA telescope to ESO, was eventually accepted allowing the UK to join ESO from the 1st of July 2002.