Abstract
Despite the high productivity and low operational costs of UKIRT in its remote operations mode the continuing pressure on the UK astronomy budget resulted in yet another review of the two remaining British overseas observatories. This was begun in late 2011 and concluded in the spring of 2012. Even as UKIRT’s 2011 record breaking productivity was being announced, and the new UHS programme was beginning, a fateful decision was being made at the highest level of UK astronomy. On the 31st of May 2012 it was announced that STFC Council had considered the future of the two sites in La Palma and Hawaii and, acting on advice and recommendations from its Science Board, had agreed to:
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
On 21 October 2015 a web post by the University of Hawaii, Hilo announced that ‘The University of Hawaii has identified the third observatory to be decommissioned and removed from the summit of Mauna Kea, advancing the implementation of the Mauna Kea Comprehensive Management Plan. The third observatory is the UKIRT Observatory, formerly known as the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope. Detailed planning for the removal of the UKIRT observatory and restoration of the site will begin sometime after the decommissioning processes for the Caltech and Hoku Kea [UH 24 inch] observatories and will be completed in accordance with the governor’s plan. No new observatories will be built on the three sites.’ No date was given but decommissioning of the Holu Kea telescope is expected to be complete by 2018. It thus seems possible that UKIRT will just reach its 40th birthday in 2019.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Davies, J.K. (2016). The Axe Falls. In: The Life Story of an Infrared Telescope. Springer Praxis Books. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23579-0_22
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23579-0_22
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-23578-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-23579-0
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)