#davidmalin — Public Fediverse posts
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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