#aat — Public Fediverse posts

Experiments successfully completed just as astronomical twilight begins. Calling it a night.

#AAT #AngloAustralianTelescope #SidingSpringObservatory #Astronomy #Astrodon

Too late for the demo but the humidity has now dropped, the outside of the dome has dried off, and we've opened up and are pointing the telescope at the night sky.

#AngloAustralianTelescope #AAT #SidingSpringObservatory #Astrodon #Astronomy

Feels like home.

#AAT #AngloAustralianTelescope #SidingSpringObservatory #Astronomy #Astrodon

This "skies are clear but the outside of the dome is dripping with condensation" situation is fairly common at SIding Spring Observatory in winter. I've experienced it many times before, with the AAT, UKST and Huntsman Telescope.

The telescopes here do generally stay open at higher humidities than at many other observatories, but even they have their limits.

#Astrodon #Astronomy #SidingSpringObservatory #AAT #AngloAustralianTelescope

Well that's a shame.

I'm supposed to be assisting with an on sky demonstration with the Anglo-Australian Telescope 3 am - 4 am. The skies are still (mostly) clear, and very, very dark but the outside humidity is over 95% so the telescope dome has been closed since 11 pm and is very unlikely to be opened again tonight.

#SIdingSpringObservatory #AAT #AngloAustralianTelescope #Astrodon #Astronomy

The introduction of remotely operated CCD cameras in the late 1990's was not quite the end of astronomers sitting in the Anglo-Australian Telescope's prime focus cage, though.

SAMI was an experimental instrument that operated between 2011 and 2018, and it used the old photographic top end to feed light into a novel type of optical fibre bundle (hexabundles). To position these fibre bundles to collect the light from specific galaxies SAMI used what was, even then, a pretty old school method: plug plates. Pre-drilled metal plates, one for each set of targets, would be inserted into a holder at the focal plane of the telescope and the fibre bundles (and individual fibres, for sky background measurement) would be plugged into the holes in the plates.

This was done with the telescope parked at the access position and was only needed when changing from one set of targets to another (i.e. a few times per night) so didn't require astronomers to ride on top of the telescope in the dark while it was observing. I gather that some of SAMI team did do so though, once or twice, just for the experience.

Here's a video of the process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywPl0tfnp2Y

#Astronomy #Astrodon #AngloAustralianTelescope #AAT #SidingSpringObservatory #SAMI

Returning to the subject of the Anglo-Australian Telescope and prime focus observers (i.e. astronomers trapped in a tube on top of the telescope), the evolution of the AAT's prime focus camera can be tracked via the images in the AAO Image Collection, and more specifically the David Malin Archive: https://images.datacentral.org.au/

The photos show the same telescope top end, with David Malin for scale, in 1976 (photographic plates), 1991 (still photographic plates), 1997 (early CCD camera) and 2000 (fully remotely operated CCD camera).

Visible in the first three photos is the prime focus observer's seat, which could be rotated around the inside of the cyclinder as the telescope tracked across the sky and the direction of "down" changed.

Credit for all photos to David Malin, more details and terms of use can be found via the above link.

#Astronomy #Astrodon #AngloAustralianTelescope #AAT #SidingSpringObservatory #DavidMalin

One final comment while I'm AAT-posting, this is the same telescope that I posted about last week because of the upcoming workshop to discuss its future.

I've been working on an idea for a new camera for it.

https://aus.social/@spacelizard/116797098057265480

#Astronomy #Astrodon #Telescope #AngloAustralianTelescope #AAT #SidingSpringObservatory

Incidentally, if you'd like to see the Anglo-Australian Telescope yourself in person your best bet (short of becoming a professional astronomer and applying for telescope time on it) is to go along to StarFest over the October long weekend. Part of that is the annual Siding Spring Observatory Open Day, during which you can visit areas of the Anglo-Australian Telescope and many of the other telescopes on site that would normally be closed to the public.

There'll also be a public lecture, science in the pub and a guided stargazing event in the Warrumbungles National Park.

https://starfest.com.au/

#Astronomy #Astrodon #Telescope #AngloAustralianTelescope #AAT #SidingSpringObservatory

In the meantime here's a timelapse from a mere 7 years ago of a "top end change" taking place on the same telescope. I gather it's rather less frequent now, but they used to go through this process roughly once every two weeks.

https://youtu.be/EA_2CXATBSw

#Astronomy #Astrodon #Telescope #AngloAustralianTelescope #AAT #SidingSpringObservatory

Because I just found it on an old USB stick I offer to you this 20 year old 320x240@15fps "video" of the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) having a stretch.

This is the result of running a script in the telescope control software called "Cook's Tour". The original documentation describes the purpose of this script as being to "induce nausea in the prime focus observer". When that was written the AAT was still used for prime focus photography (yes, with big glass photographic plates) which required an astronomer to be inside that black cyclinder at the top of the telescope (actually another fairly similar one) during the night, in total darkness. Cook's Tour would be a fun ride for them.

More recently it was useful as a test of telescope movement control during the mid 2000's when the telescope control system was being replaced, and it has always been and continues to be a good way to show the telescope off to visitors or get cool videos.

This version of the video is not in real time, it's been sped up by a factor of a few.

#Astronomy #Astrodon #Telescope #AngloAustralianTelescope #AAT #SidingSpringObservatory

"Shibari" par lapinchien

https://www.yiny.org/w/euzTrGEF222JTtijS1Z8EU

Dans le cadre de l'appel "La vérité est relative et se propage" de litteratureunderground.com , découvrez la contribution de lapinchien sous forme de clip musical. Et n'hésitez pas vous même à contribuer.

[email protected]

#chanson #parodie #FanArt #lapinchien #lazone #humour #litterature #appelatexte #underground #aat #callforsubmission #callfortext #ecrire #bookstagram #LiteraturePosts #WritingCommunity #writers #books #lecture #livre #roman #lire #livres #books #bookstagramfrance #ecriture #auteur #litteraturefrancaise

Le règlèment complet est accessible ici : https://litteratureunderground.com/#AAT-verite

Adressez vos contributions sur [email protected] avant le 15/06/2026

#arts #littérature #CourtsMétrages #chansons #images #appelatexte #appelàcontributions #underground #art #aat #callforsubmission #callfortext #ecrire #LiteraturePosts #WritingCommunity #writers #books #lecture #livre #roman #book #lire #livres #litt #lecturedumoment #ecriture #auteur #litteraturefrancaise #ecrivain

lazone.org - "Zona Delenda Est" par Dourak Smerdiakov

🐟

#litterature #appelatexte #underground #aat #callforsubmission #callfortext #ecrire #LiteraturePosts #WritingCommunity #writers #books #lecture #livre #roman #book #lire #livres #litt #books #lecturedumoment #ecriture #auteur #litteraturefrancaise #passionlecture #ecrivain

(IA hacked)

Here's an older telescope technical drawing, the Anglo-Australian Telescope as drawn in 1969.

Unlike the VLT drawings this one would have been done without computer assistance, at a drawing board, with a pencil.

#Astronomy #Astrodon #Telescope #AAT #AngloAustralianTelescope #TechnicalDrawing

#Wikidata @wikidata is so inhomogeneous. Here the subclasses of #teachingmaterial. #SPARQL https://w.wiki/FTNj Better use the Art & Architecture Thesaurus, though it is not exhaustive either. #AAT

http://vocab.getty.edu/page/aat/300026367

https://www.getty.edu/vow/AATHierarchy?find=instructional+materials&logic=AND&note=&page=1&subjectid=300026367

It took me a while to understand that #getty:broader and variants are not equal to #SKOS:broader. Here are the "#hyponyms" of "people by degree of qualification" from The Art & Architecture Thesaurus (#AAT) - I am not quite convinced.
https://tinyurl.com/mve25dmw

#SPARQL for #skills

I extracted 56.290 unique preferred English terms from Getty's Art & Architecture Thesaurus XML files.
#AAT

@mecfs @longcovid @socialwork @chronicillness @neisvoid @ndis @disability @disabilityjustice

#FixTheNDIS #NDIS #AAT #ART
This is hell.
They don’t want to help us.
I have nothing left in tank.
Merry Christmas to me.

Wish me luck over the next few months. I really feel like I’m not going to make it.

I’ve felt this coming on for 3 years.

I was meant to take 2 months off at the end of this year but it didn’t happen bc other people didn’t do their jobs. I haven’t found a safe place to live. #NDIS has gone to #AAT before #Christmas which I specifically asked to be done after.

If other people not doing their jobs kills me, I want it known.

I need more help & a safe place to live.

I keep asking. Please help.

Wish me luck over the next few months. I really feel like I’m not going to make it.

My intuition about bad things is usually good (no pun, was that a pun?) & I’ve felt this coming on for about 3 years.

I was meant to take 2 months off at the end of this year but it didn’t happen bc other people didn’t do their jobs. I haven’t found a safe place to live. #NDIS has gone to #AAT before #Christmas which I specifically asked to be done after.

If other people not doing their jobs kills me, I want it known.

Maybe it’s petty, but I will try to keep a list, & that list includes my family for making me miss out on any comforts including my own birthday since March.

It hasn’t ended, there’s no relief now my sister has moved next door.

I need more help & a safe place to live.

I keep asking. Please help.

#Pwme #LongCovid #ChronicIllness #Accommodation #Housing
#SocialWork #CommunityWork #MECFS #Abuse #Neglect #Help

@mecfs
@longcovid
@socialwork
@chronicillness
@[email protected]
@neisvoid
@ndis
@disability
@disabilityjustice

During the commissioning of the Anglo-Australian Telescope the Chief Commissioning Astronomer, Ben Gascoigne, was almost killed when he fell from the interior dome catwalk to the main floor of the dome 7 metres below. His colleagues, clearly very sympathetic, named the spot Gascoigne's Leap and erected a plaque, which is still there to this day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Gascoigne#Anglo-Australian_Telescope

#Astrodon #Astronomy #AAT #StarFest

I feel a strong personal connection with the old telescope as a result of working on many related projects over the years.

The most significant is probably the project to replace the telescope control system (TCS). The Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) was one of the first large telescopes to be built with a digital control computer, which gave it unprecedented pointing and tracking accuracy for the time. The original control system, based on an Interdata Model 70 minicomputer, served the telescope well for many years but by the early 2000's it was becoming a bottleneck and a replacement was planned.

In 2005 I was hired by the AAO as an instrument scientist to work on two projects, one of which was the TCS replacement project. I was part of the team that implemented the new control system, allowing the old Interdata to be permanently retired by 2008.

The current AAT control console is a mix of illuminated push buttons and analogue dials and gauges from the original control system and panel mount LCD monitors from the mid 2000's refurb.

Some parts of the original computer were on display in the telescope dome during the Open Day.

#Astrodon #Astronomy #AAT #StarFest

Last month I visited some 25 year old telescopes, today I visited one that is 50 years old. Happy Birthday to the Anglo-Australian Telescope!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Australian_Telescope

#Astrodon #Astronomy #AAT #StarFest

@AasaMariaHedberg Den enda jag hört talas om i #fdroid #floss #repo är #Runnerup, verkar göra det den ska även #AAT.

Guten Morgen an die vielen interessierten und engagierten Menschen, die heute Morgen mit uns mehr über #kontrollierteVokabulare für #GLAM-Einrichtungen lernen wollen! ☀️
Unser Workshop startet jetzt und wir freuen uns darauf, tief in die Welt der strukturierten Daten, #GND, #AAT, #Iconclass, #Geonames und #Wikidata einzutauchen. 📚💡
#Digitalisierung #KulturgutDigital

⌛ Nur noch bis Sonntag könnt ihr euch für unseren digitalen Workshop am 3. Mai anmelden!
Erfahrt mehr über die praktische Anwendung von kontrollierten Vokabularen in #GLAM-Einrichtungen. Freut euch auf spannende Beispiele und Übungen zu Themen wie #GND, #AAT, #Iconclass, #Geonames und #wikidata.

🔗 Alle wichtigen Infos zur Anmeldung findet ihr hier: https://www.digis-berlin.de/einladung-zum-workshop-metadaten-kontrollierte-vokabulare/

#KulturgutDigital

Wir laden ein zum Workshop “Metadaten – Kontrollierte Vokabulare“!
Der Workshop findet am 3. Mai 2024 von 10 bis 15 Uhr online via ZOOM statt.
Wir werden uns der Verwendung von Kontrollierten Vokabularen anhand einiger Beispiele kritisch nähern und gemeinsam verschiedene Recherchemöglichkeiten in den gängigen großen Kontrollierten Vokabularen (#GND, #AAT, #Iconclass, #Geonames, #wikidata) ausprobieren und das Wissen in einer praktischer Übung anwenden.
Anmeldung unter: https://www.digis-berlin.de/einladung-zum-workshop-metadaten-kontrollierte-vokabulare/

#Wikidata spielt neben #GND und #AAT im Portal "Sammlungsgut aus kolonialen Kontexten" der #DDB eine wichtige Rolle