The United Kingdom Infrared Telescope is a 3.8m telescope located near the summit of Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano on Hawaii.
Completed in 1979, the instrument is dedicated to observing the sky in the infrared part of the spectrum and has been used to study the formation of stars in the Milky Way. In 2000, scientists using the telescope published data which showed the presence of free-floating planets in the Orion Nebula.
Image: The UK Infrared Telescope (credit: UKIRT/JAC)
Patrick Moore finds out about the unique features of the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) located on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and learns about the novel technique of 'chopping'.
Sir Patrick Moore visits the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) and looks at some of its images.
Sir Patrick Moore's guest demonstrates how astronomers use infrared light in spacecraft such as the Herschel Space Observatory and in Earth-based telescopes such as UKIRT.
Sir Patrick Moore's guest Professor Richard Ellis from the University of Oxford reviews the world's large observatories and explains their importance. [The black and white images of Edwin Hubble, George Hale, Mount Wilson, the 200-inch telescope and mirror making in this clip are copyright Palomar Observatories/Caltech]
UKIRT, the United Kingdom Infra-Red Telescope, is a 3.8 metre (150 inch) infrared reflecting telescope, the second largest dedicated infrared (1 to 30 micrometres) telescope in the world. It is operated by the Joint Astronomy Centre in Hilo and located on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i as part of Mauna Kea Observatory. It is owned by the United Kingdom Science and Technology Facilities Council, which announced it was going to shut it down or transfer operations at the end of 2013. Scientists described the shutdown as "very sad" and noted its cutting edge science.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the user-contributed encyclopedia. If you find the content in the 'About' section factually incorrect, defamatory or highly offensive you can edit this article at Wikipedia.
BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
