The 2.3 m Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory

Siding Spring Observatory

Siding Spring Observatory near Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Australia, part of the Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the Australian National University , incorporates the Anglo-Australian Telescope along with a collection of other telescopes owned by the Australian National...

 is operated by the Australian National University

Australian National University

The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...

. The 2.3m Advanced Technology Telescope was constructed during the early 1980s and featured at-the-time radical features: an alt-az mount and co-rotating dome.

Instrumentation includes:

• An integral field spectrograph (WiFeS)
• Nasmyth Imager
• Cassegrain IR imager (CASPIR)

The telescope is a workhorse for numerous large programs where it is used to winnow down candidate objects for more extensive observation at larger telescopes and is a valuable tool for training graduate students in the at-times black arts of observing

External links

• The 2.3 m Telescope