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New Zealand Economic, Business and Educational Benefitsdue to participation in theSouthern African Large Telescope (SALT) Project
Computer image of the proposed 10-m class Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) superimposed on a photograph of some of the existing telescopes at the South African Astronomical Observatory site near Sutherland, Northern Cape Province.
by Glen Mackie, Peter Cottrell and Phil Yock
Version 1 - 16 December, 1999
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Executive Summary
In 1998,
the South African government approved the construction of
the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) in Sutherland, Northern
Cape Province. The South African government agreed to contribute 50%
of the capital construction costs with the remaining 50% sourced from
international partners. New Zealand has been asked to join the SALT
project.
This Plan is designed to illustrate the benefits from New Zealand participation in SALT. There are two main parts to this plan:
The potential activities in each of these focus areas are detailed together with the resultant benefits to New Zealand. The overall goal is to ensure that maximum economic, business and educational benefits are derived from New Zealand participation in SALT to advance the economy, technology and society of New Zealand.
In June 1998 the South African Minister of Arts, Culture, Science & Technology, Mr Lionel Mtshali, announced (Nature 1998, vol. 393, p. 403) that South Africa has committed $US10 million towards the construction of the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT), which would become a flagship science project in the new South Africa. This is half the construction cost of this telescope.
SALT will be the largest optical/infrared spectroscopic telescope in the southern hemisphere. It has a novel efficient, low-cost design and is a copy of a similar telescope, the Hobby-Eberly Telescope in Texas. The scientific rationale for New Zealand participation has already been outlined in Mackie, Cottrell and Yock (1998). It is now becoming common place for countries to seek participation in multi-national astronomy projects located in the best observational sites around the world.
A fisheye lens view of the 10-metre Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) in Texas. SALT will be an almost carbon-copy of HET.
To fund the other half of the construction cost, South Africa is seeking international partners and the South African Foundation for Research Development has noted that "good progress has been made in identifying partners" - potential collaborators include Poland, New Zealand and universities in the United States of America and Germany. As of December 1999, approximately 85% of the total cost has been found (Nature 1999, vol. 399, p. 510) due to firm commitments from the Polish government, and universities in Germany and the U.S.A. These commitments have ensured the building of SALT.
The ground breaking ceremony for the start of construction of SALT will be held in early 2000.
New Zealand has been invited to join the SALT project, and the astronomy and astrophysics community has identified New Zealand participation in SALT as its main recommendation for future growth ( Cottrell and Mackie 1998).
A New Zealand consortium of scientists, engineers and information technologists are seeking partnership in SALT at the 5% level, which would be a viable contribution to the collaboration. Part of New Zealand's contribution could include a substantial contract to build one of the telescope's initial instruments in New Zealand that would provide opportunities for optical design and fabrication within the universities and Crown Research Institutes. The project would provide substantial spin-offs in a number of technological fields - optical engineering and fabrication and detector technology.
This document is provided to illustrate the important business opportunities and educational advantages that could be made if New Zealand joined the SALT project.
SALT is being constructed for two primary missions:
Participation by New Zealand therefore not only encourages local economic and business opportunities but also allows New Zealand to be actively involved in the highest profile science and technology project in Southern Africa that is a key development in the future social and economic growth of the new South Africa. SALT has a lifetime of at least 30 years.
To build a HRS for SALT New Zealand would require
The future benefits are numerous given that New Zealand could then
competitively bid for next-generation HRS instrumentation for SALT and
other large telescopes (HET, Keck, ESO-VLT, Gemini North and South,
Magellan) and other similar optical technology projects. In the future
such skills may allow New Zealand involvement in satellite and
planetary mission instrumentation projects. The immediate future
capabilities and outputs include
Mount John University Observatory 1-metre telescope
The University of Canterbury has successfully built the McLellan 1-metre telescope at Mount John University Observatory. This facility is the largest aperture optical telescope in New Zealand. The optics of this 1-metre Dall-Kirkham reflecting telescope were polished by optical engineers from the DSIR's Physics and Engineering Laboratory (now Industrial Research Ltd.). The mechanical and electronic work was done by Physics Department workshop staff at the University of Canterbury. First light was in 1986 March.
Mount John University Observatory Medium Resolution Spectrograph. It is ideal for acquiring spectra with a small-medium size telescope, over both an extended wavelength interval and spatially, to gain a broad perspective of the astrophysical parameters of the objects.
The Mount John University Observatory Medium Resolution and Echelle Spectrographs were also built at the University of Canterbury and presently, a new high resolution echelle spectrograph, HERCULES (High Efficiency and Resolution Canterbury University Large Echelle Spectrograph), is under construction and expected to be completed in 2001.
A schematic design diagram of the Mount John University Observatory HERCULES Spectrograph. It's ultra-high resolution will allow accurate measurements of chemical abundances and velocities of bright stars using the 1-metre McLellan telescope.
Optical technology projects are not limited to the South Island. Dr David Beach of Industrial Research Limited, Auckland has developed a novel, fast f-ratio imaging camera called KiwiStar. A version of KiwiStar has already been sold to Los Alamos National Laboratory. KiwiStar has unique optical properties that also lend it towards astronomical imaging and its use in a robotic telescope is being considered presently.
KiwiStar prototype
It is possible that New Zealand could send software designers, optical technicians and detector engineers to SALT on an exchange basis as part of New Zealands participation in SALT operations.
The key industrial and technological outcomes will be
The cost benefits to New Zealand can be estimated. The approximate total cost of a High Resolution Spectrograph is $NZ 3 million (based on the current cost of the U.Texas HET-HRS). The probable cost of a New Zealand-built HRS could be 25-35% less however. Hence similar instruments built to fulfil other contracts will bring into the country similar revenue. Hence the ability to design and build high resolution spectrographs and similar instruments or detectors would lead to a multi-million dollar industry. Once an optical design and manufacturing base has been established other optical instrumentation projects can also be undertaken.
SALT has numerous benefits for education and science and technology promotion in New Zealand. SALT may be regarded as a virtual telescope. It could reside anywhere on Earth, and in fact astronomers will usually use it and obtain their observations via the Internet rather than travel to South Africa for observations.
Promoting science and technology careers
New Zealand school children will be inspired by the capabilities of SALT and a New Zealand designed and constructed HRS instrument. Astronomy has been a key component of the national schools curriculum since 1995. Students will be able to view the telescope and instrument via the New Zealand-SALT World Wide Web site. Further, since New Zealand is almost 12 hours in front of South Africa, classroom eavesdropping on the nighttime observations and status of SALT will be possible.
Wow! it's Science - New Zealand Science & Technology Promotion Programme
Integrating an International Science Project into the National Curriculum
It is envisaged that all New Zealand schools and universities would have access to a New Zealand designed scientific and educational Web site that would describe the SALT and the New Zealand HRS projects. Classroom activities and science projects could be designed based on current New Zealand-SALT research and technology projects. Descriptions and images related to the individual New Zealand astronomy observations using SALT would be visible to all on the Web page.
A New Zealand SALT Web site would build upon existing locally created Web based educational astronomy activities. The STaRS Web site provides Web-based astronomy activities for students in the 8-12 year old range, and information on astronomy and space sciences for general consumption. It is a pilot programme supported by the Science and Technology Promotion Fund of the Royal Society of New Zealand. STaRS has built upon existing activities created by the Carter Observatory Education Team in Wellington. Similar classroom activities have been developed at the Auckland Observatory.
Taking it to the People
Resource exchanges could be possible between the new SALT visitor centres and existing public observatories and science centres in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch. Displays, models and software could be loaned to the New Zealand centres.
Golden Bay Planetarium at Carter Observatory, Wellington
The key educational outcomes will be
SALT will be built by 2005. New Zealand has a unique opportunity to participate in an international science project and benefit locally in science, industry, education and technological areas. International linkages and opportunities are also possible.
Astronomy and astrophysics has an excellent record in New Zealand. The past achievements of Sir William Pickering (Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena during the Apollo lunar project), Professor Sir Ian Axford FRS, (Director of the Max Planck Institute for Aeronomie in Lindau, Germany) are notable. Many New Zealanders, educated and trained at New Zealand universities, are currently active in astronomy research at Australian, European and U.S.A. institutes highlighting the ongoing problem of retention of "home-grown" scientists and technologists.
New Zealanders that made fundamental astrophysical discoveries whilst overseas include Professor Roy Kerr and Professor Beatrice Tinsley. Kerr found a solution to Einstein's General Relativity field equation that described the spacetime curvature outside a spinning black hole. This breakthrough led to an explosion of theoretical work on black holes in the late 1960's and 1970's by Hawking, Penrose and others. Similarly, through the 1970's Tinsley led the astrophysics community in it's understanding of galaxy evolution and the importance of such evolution in cosmological studies.
A spiral galaxy in Antlia, NGC 2997. © Anglo-Australian Observatory, Photograph by David Malin
The local astrophysics community continues to have an international presence with recent discoveries including spectroscopic observations of supernova SN 1987A with the 1-metre McLellan telescope, observations of a highly luminous Gamma-ray Burster by Dr Karen Pollard (University of Canterbury), evidence for extra-solar planets (MOA New Zealand-Japan collaboration) and the co-discovery of Nova Velorum 1999 by Alan Gilmore (Mount John University Observatory).
Participation in
SALT is an obvious step for the astronomy and astrophysics community.
The construction of a High Resolution Spectrograph for SALT
would combine the advantages of building a high technology optical design and
manufacturing base in New Zealand and allow New Zealand researchers,
engineers, technologists, students and the general public to participate
in a major international science project of the 21st century.
Cottrell and Mackie 1998, Foresight Project - "New Zealand Astronomy and Astrophysics in the first decade of the new millennium", (an abbreviated version appears in Southern Stars, 1998, vol. 38, 2, p. 51.)
Mackie, Cottrell and Yock 1998, "Pass the SALT, Please", New Zealand Science Monthly, November 1998.
Nature, 1998, vol. 393, p. 403.
Nature, 1999, vol. 399, p. 510.
Dr. Glen Mackie, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Victoria University Wellington and Carter Observatory
Assoc. Prof. Peter Cottrell, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, University of Canterbury
Assoc. Prof. Phil Yock, Faculty of Science, University of Auckland
Last updated: 16-Dec.-1999
