Fires in Australia hurt Hawai'i observatory
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
HILO, Hawai'i — A wildfire that destroyed Australia's Mount Stromlo Observatory earlier this month also dealt a setback to astronomers in Hawai'i.
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The Australian observatory's lab was building a $3 million spectrograph for the Gemini Observatory on Mauna Kea, and the instrument was nearly complete when the fire burned most of it.
A $3 million spectrograph for the Gemini telescope on Mauna Kea was destroyed in an Australian wild fire.
Five telescopes were destroyed in the fire, along with workshops, staff homes and other facilities. Estimates of the damage to the observatory range from $10 million to $20 million. Meanwhile, wildfires burning around Canberra, Australia's capital, also killed four people and destroyed up to 400 homes.
The Near-Infrared Integral Field Spectrograph on order from the observatory had the capability to break starlight into a spectrum so it could be studied. This particular one would have allowed viewing in the infrared spectrum, making it the only apparatus of its kind for a telescope the size of the Gemini, said Peter Michaud, spokesman for the Big Island observatory.
Michaud said the spectrograph would have been used for probing galaxy cores and viewing features that otherwise would be obscured by clouds of gas and dust.
The contract to build the spectrograph was signed in 1999, Michaud said, and the introduction of an instrument of this kind usually causes a stir among space scientists.
"That's why something like this is such a great loss, because it really involved a lot of time and effort," he said. "It's not an easy thing to build."
Scientists at Gemini Observatory will reassess the project to decide whether to try to replace the spectrograph or whether newer technology warrants a change in plans, Michaud said.
A detector that was the heart of the spectrograph was spared because it was stalled in customs and had not yet been delivered to the observatory, he said. Michaud said that component alone was worth about $500,000.
A second piece of equipment that the Gemini Observatory has on order with the Mount Stromlo Observatory is an imager, or camera, that will work with a new generation of adaptive optics that compensates for distortions caused by Earth's atmosphere to offer much improved resolution for astronomers.
Despite the fire, the plan is still to have that $5 million instrument from Mount Stromlo working in space on loan from the University of Sydney, Michaud said.
Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916.
