Sky and Telescope - November 2018 - 31

T

he Internet makes it easy for us to
enjoy impressive images of planets,
nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies with just a few mouse clicks. Virtually
any Messier or NGC object can be found
online, usually shown with plenty of color
and detail. But it wasn't always so easy.
After Henry Draper and others pioneered
astrophotography in the late 1800s, it took
nearly a century before one individual
developed a reliable technique for producing color astrophotographs that still is in use in the digital age.

p GOOD OLD DAYS Left: David Malin is seen in the prime focus cage
of the 4-meter f/3.3 Anglo-Australian Telescope. Right: The AAT with its
massive horseshoe equatorial mount.

A LL PHOTOS BY DAVID M A LIN

New Eyes Down Under
Since most of the planet's population lives north of the equator, it's not surprising that many of the world's largest telescopes were located there until the end of the 20th century.
By the 1960s, huge instruments such as the 200-inch Hale
Telescope were in regular use studying the northern skies,
while gems of the Southern Hemisphere such as the Magellanic Clouds and the most interesting areas of the Milky Way
were inaccessible to first-class telescopes.
The need for a large telescope to scrutinize the southern
skies was clear, so in 1967, the UK and Australian governments agreed to join forces to build a 4-meter-class telescope
at Siding Spring, Australia. The cost to construct the AngloAustralian Observatory (AAO) was shared by both partners,
and when in operation, the telescope would be shared equally
between astronomers of the two countries.
To save on development time and cost, the design of the
Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) was based on the 150-inch
telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. In
1969, the AAT's 3.9-meter main mirror was cast in the U.S.
and was polished one year later in the UK. The mount that
would support the telescope was a huge equatorial. Today, it
remains one of the largest equatorial mounts in the world.
Officially, first light for the AAT was on April 27, 1974,
but the first "good" plate with the telescope was made earlier
when Ben Gascoigne took a 60-minute exposure of Omega
Centauri before the mirror was even aluminized. Gascoigne
was responsible for much of the telescope's optical design
and, later, its commissioning.
The AAT commissioning continued for more than a year,
and, while there was still much to be done, it was declared
ready for observing in early 1975. Routine, scheduled operation began in June.
While the AAT was in development, another instrument,
the UK Schmidt Telescope (UKST) was built at Siding Spring
in 1973, as an updated copy of the Palomar (now Oschin)
Schmidt Telescope in California. The UKST is essentially an
f/2.5 wide-field telescope with a focal length of 3 meters
and an aperture of 1.2 meters. It was operated by the Royal
Observatory, Edinburgh, until 1988, when AAO took over.
The availability of these two instruments under the southern sky had been a dream for generations of both British

and Australian astronomers. A new window to a relatively
unknown area of the sky had been opened.

South of the Equator
In November 1974, the journal Nature published an opening
for staff at the AAT, including a photographic specialist. At
that time, the Englishman David Malin was working in the
chemical industry with optical and electron microscopes.
Malin obtained many beautiful images of crystalline materials while developing his photographic prowess. When denied
the position to head the lab at what was then the Geigy
Company, Malin took note of the classified listing in Nature.
Despite being woefully ignorant about the techniques of
astronomical photography, he applied for the position. There
was enough overlap between microscopy and astrophotography that he was offered the job. He accepted and moved his
family to Australia to work as scientific photographer at AAO.
The first two years at the AAT were mainly focused on
setting up the photographic support facilities. Malin was also
q PLATE REGISTRATION Malin constructed a custom superimposition
frame to precisely align the individual color plates under the enlarger.
A print is attached to the hinged lid to act as a positional reference for
each image, which is projected through it and combined onto a sheet of
unexposed film or photographic paper beneath.

sk yandtelescope.com * N OV E M B E R 2 018

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Sky and Telescope - November 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky and Telescope - November 2018

Contents
Sky and Telescope - November 2018 - Cover1
Sky and Telescope - November 2018 - Cover2
Sky and Telescope - November 2018 - 1
Sky and Telescope - November 2018 - Contents
Sky and Telescope - November 2018 - 3
Sky and Telescope - November 2018 - 4
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Sky and Telescope - November 2018 - 6
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