This week the University of St Andrews observatory opened its doors to the members of the GRCDI to tour its telescope, learn about the history of the facility and the tools we have to observe the stars.
The James Gregory Telescope was constructed in 1962, and is the largest of its kind operating in Scotland. It was designed as a ‘wide field’ telescope, capable of surveying larger portions of the sky to help guide more detailed observations using other telescopes.
Currently, it is used mainly as a teaching tool, rather than for direct research, and provides students with a first opportunity to operate and make observations using a large telescope, but it has previously played a role in many different projects, including the hunt for exoplanets by observing changes in the light output of distant stars as planets transit in front of them and the study of the impact of super massive black holes on the structure of distant galaxies.
Events like these are core to the GRCDI community as an opportunity to create spaces where members who normally operate across different fields are able to come together and talk or develop future collaborations across distant disciplines.