- UK Schmidt Telescope
The 1.2
metre UK Schmidt Telescope (UKST) is operated by theAnglo-Australian Observatory , and located adjacent to the 3.9 metreAnglo-Australian Telescope atSiding Spring Observatory ,Australia . It is a surveytelescope with a 6° by 6°field of view , and has been the primary source of optical survey data in the southern sky since it was opened in 1973. The original sky survey plates have been digitally scanned by theSpace Telescope Science Institute to create the Guide Star Catalog for theHubble Space Telescope , and theDigitized Sky Survey .Although the UKST was originally used to make
photographs of the sky, it is now used almost exclusively for multi-objectspectroscopy with the 6 degree Field (6dF) instrument. 6dF uses a robot to position up to 150 optical fibres on a plate mounted at thefocal plane of the UKST, which then carry light from the targets to aspectrograph which sits on the floor of the dome. The 6dF Galaxy Survey (6dFGS), aredshift survey of 120,000 infrared-selectedgalaxies has recently been completed, and the UKST is now engaged in the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) to measure the radial velocities and metallicities of up to 1 million stars in ourMilky Way Galaxy .ee also
*
Space Telescope Science Institute
*Digitized Sky Survey
*Palomar Observatory External links
* [http://www.aao.gov.au/ukst/ Anglo-Australian Observatory UK Schmidt Telescope homepage]
* [http://www-gsss.stsci.edu/Catalogs/GSC/GSC2/GSC2.htm Guide Star Catalog]
* [http://www-gsss.stsci.edu/SkySurveys/SkySurveys.htm Digitized Sky Survey]
* [http://www.aao.gov.au/local/www/6df/ 6dF Galaxy Survey]
* [http://www.rave-survey.aip.de/rave/ RAVE Survey]
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