Australia enters a new era of excellence in astronomy instrumentation with the official launch of the Australian Astronomical Optics (AAO) capability at Macquarie University.
The new collaborative initiative marks the end of the Government's Australian Astronomical Observatory after 45 years of operation.
It was abolished after Australia signed a ten-year strategic partnership with the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in 2017, a $129 million investment that provided Australian astronomers access to one of the world's best sites for astronomy, the optical-infrared telescopes at the La Silla Paranal Observatory in Chile.
The transfer of the Observatory's capabilities to the research sector was then as much about covering some of the costs as about providing optimal support for the ESO partnership.
It included the establishment of the AAO consortium, which is funded with $20 million from the National Collaborative Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), and led by Macquarie University also involves the University of Sydney, the Australian National University, and Astronomy Australia Limited.
“The AAO will lead new applications for optical technology that range from medical imaging, to the airline industry and to spacecraft components – the sky’s the limit,” the federal member for Bennelong, John Alexander, said at the launch.
The Government has also given its 3.9 metre Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) to a new unversity consortium, which led by the Australian National University will run the facility at the Siding Spring Observatory until the end of its operational life in 2024-25.