Astronomy and particle physics : report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence.
- Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology
- Date:
- 2011
Licence: Open Government Licence
Credit: Astronomy and particle physics : report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![42. We were told that the current cost of UK involvement in Gemini was around £5-6 million per annum.” The Gemini UK National Time Allocation Committee said that ongoing access to Gemini with a reduced partner share would reduce costs to around £2-3 million per annum.*' However, arguments in respect of Gemini where not so clear-cut. The Ground-Based Facilities Review panel, commissioned by the STFC in 2009, accepted that, on cost-effectiveness grounds, continued UK involvement in Gemini might not be justified, but recommended continued involvement in the ING telescopes, in order to mitigate Gemini withdrawal and avoid the loss of all Northern Hemisphere access. In particular, the panel placed a high ranking on the ongoing operation of the ING’s William Herschel Telescope through to 2017.° 43. While we received some representations that the UK should continue to be involved in the Gemini partnership, particularly given the UK’s investment to date,°? much of the evidence we received accepted that withdrawal from Gemini was inevitable, particularly as it was not a UK-owned facility and the scientific and financial arguments for continued involvement were relatively weaker than for other telescopes, such as those on La Palma.™ 44. The STFC said that ongoing access to STFC-owned facilities might be possible,” a point reiterated in the Government’s submission: STFC continues to operate STFC-owned facilities in Hawaii (CMT, UKIRT) and the Canaries (ING) and it is discussing future management arrangements with new partners (Hawaii) and with Spain (Canaries) which may include access to some if not all of these facilities. STFC’s science committees will have to consider the case for continued UK investment in these facilities in competition with other demands on its science programme budget.” The STFC confirmed to us in March that it was now making “efforts to retain access to the » 67 telescopes on La Palma”. 45. Withdrawal from all Northern Hemisphere ground-based optical and infrared facilities risks, in our opinion, surrendering the UK’s prominence in this field to other ESO member states and depriving UK astronomers of a leading role in future discoveries and instrumentation development. It is essential that the STFC re-examine the case for retaining access to those telescope that it owns, especially in light of the relatively small amount of money that would allow continuity. We have concerns that it could be to the detriment of UK astronomy if the UK presence in all ground-based optical and infrared facilities outside of the ESO were to be lost. SOMOS 51 Ev w36, paras 4.2-4.3 62 Ey 43, para 2 [Professor Robert Kennicutt] ®3 See, for example: Ev w31, para 6 [Professor N Tanvir]; Ev w33, para 3 [Dr Bryn Jones]; Ev w36, para 4.1 [Gemini UK National Time Allocation Committee]. 64 See, for example: Ev w7, para 8 [Durham University]; Ev 43, para 2 [Professor Robert Kennicutt]; Ev 100-, para 9 [Professor John Peacock]; and Q 96. 5 Ev 52, para 12 6 Ey 38, para 8 67Q 129](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b3222204x_0023.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
