United Kingdom Schmidt Telescope (UKST)
The UKST is a survey telescope with an aperture of 1.2 metres and a very wide-angle field of view. The considerably wider field of view of the Schmidt optical design complements the narrower field of the AAT.
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About
During the construction of the AAT in the early 1970s, the British Science Research Council was also building the United Kingdom Schmidt Telescope (UKST) at a location 1km to the northeast of the AAT dome. The UKST is a survey telescope with an aperture of 1.2 metres and a very wide-angle field of view. The considerably wider field of view of the Schmidt optical design complements the narrower field of the AAT. The UKST can survey larger areas of sky more quickly, and interesting objects that are discovered can then be studied in greater detail using the larger telescope.
Until recently it was operated by the AAO on behalf the ANU under funding from the international RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) project. RAVE measured physical parameters for over 500,000 stars in our Milky Way galaxy.
The UKST is no longer used. It has not been decommissioned and is actively being maintained for future potential uses.
Location
Siding Spring Observatory