Are UK based Optical Telescopes still used for serious research?

[wavering]

Are UK based Optical Telescopes still used for serious research in universities? If so what is the smallest size reflector that is likely to be of interest to a university?

[Ouroboros]

I was wondering this the other day when watching a documentary filmed at Herstmonceux in Sussex with the observatory domes looking a bit sad and neglected. 

[bejay1957]

i would think the various threads here on cloudy skies suggest optical observing from the UK is not an efficient exercise

[MattJenko]

The university based scopes may be mainly of local academic use as training aides, but there is a good degree of UK amateur observations being taken which feed the various databases of variable stars photometry and spectra which are of continued use for professional research and scientific purpose.

[ronin]

Likely depends on what or how you define research.

People it seems still use the 8" refractor at Cambridge for observing double stars, no idea what they do but it is reported as still used for such. Another scope there is used again I think for double star observing, may include spectroscopy but not sure. The arguement that person has is that the quality of viewing is worse compared to say the Canaries, but they get a lot more viewing as they can observe/collect data any clear enough night of the year.

If you head to google maps and search out Bayfordbury, SG13 8LD, then you will see the University of Hertfordshires observatories. They are generally 8" to 14" SCT's and may be mainly used for teaching but equally people doing a PhD will have to research on something.

Quite a few robotic scopes will interrupt any action to slew to a supernova, the intention being to get the spectra asap. Think that Nottingham scopes do this. Somewhere that (I think) begins with "N".

Smallest, well I guess 8", mainly based on visiting the Bayfordbury establishment. Suppose they may well have a number bigger as 11", 16" and 18" are not uncommon.

If "research" is x-ray astronomy then it has to be orbiting telescopes, and the same for several other wave lengths. I get the idea that Gaia is more software programming.

[Ally8446]

The Spaceguard Centre

Llanshay Lane, Knighton, LD7 1LW
01547 520247

https://g.co/kgs/4ikOVl

 

Near earth orbit object hunters. 

Ally

[saac]

University of St Andrews has an active research program using their on site observatories.

As a bonus they are also open to the public on a fairly regular basis.

Jim

http://observatory.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/research/

 

 

[jnb]

On 08/05/2017 at 16:15, Ouroboros said:

I was wondering this the other day when watching a documentary filmed at Herstmonceux in Sussex with the observatory domes looking a bit sad and neglected. 

The observatory domes at Herstmonceux were always intended to look "sad and neglected" from the moment they were built. Part of the rationale of using copper was that the verdigris effect would allow them age and blend into the surrounding countryside. That said professional optical astronomy in the UK is a bit of a non starter these days because even small professional scopes can be run remotely.

In the case of Herstmonceux the instruments are mainly of historical interest we now run the site primarily as a science museum and public outreach centre although we do have a plan to bring our 36" Yapp reflector back into use for exoplanet searches. We can do that with photometric and to a lesser extend doppler methods where the image quality is not the primary requirement and serious work can be done even with relatively poor skies.

 

[Ouroboros]

@jnb Interesting, thanks. I remember visiting Herstmonceux many years ago (20?) and finding it very interesting. Good to see it has continued to be developed for public education.  

[Hertford Stargazer]

A few years ago I went to a Bayfordbury open evening and they had each telescope locked onto different targets so you could walk around the different domes and take a peek . One of the scopes was giving near live views of a galaxy (might of been M82), I got chatting to the gentleman who was running that particular dome and he was telling me about the research he was doing with binary stars, he said he was retired so could spend plenty of time using that particular scope when conditions allowed. He brought up some graphs on the computer screen showing dips in star magnitude ect. It could of been just personal research but I'd be surprised given the amount of access he appeared to have.

[triton1]

#*<]}# must read the question properly.