ANU RSAA Siding Spring Observatory - The Stability of the WiFeS Instrument on the ANU 2.3-Metre Robotic Telescope

This is an opportunity to work at Siding Spring Observatory to determine the stability of the WiFeS Instrument on the ANU 2.3-metre robotic telescope.

label Opportunity type
College approved Internship
schedule Application date
31 Aug 2023 | 9am - 15 Sep 2023 | 5pm
school Level
Bachelor
Master

About

Siding Spring Observatory is Australia’s largest ground-based optical astronomical observatory. It is home to the 3.9-metre Anglo-Australian Telescope, the ANU 2.3-metre telescope, SkyMapper and over a dozen other facilities run by national and international organisations. The telescopes at the Observatory are maintained by a staff of about 20 technicians.

The Observatory is located on the edge of the Warrumbungle National Park in northern NSW about 25 km west of the town of Coonabarabran. It is about a seven hour drive from Canberra.

Project:  The Stability of the WiFeS Instrument on the ANU 2.3-Metre Robotic Telescope

Internship details

Internship Availability

Summer,  2024 (29 Jan - 16 Feb)

Internship Discipline/s

Astronomy

Internship Level

3rd yr undergraduate, or PG coursework

Available to International Students

Yes

Preferred Project Skills

Python and Linux programming skills

Clearances Required

No

Host Supervisor

Chris Lidman,  Director, SSO

E: Christopher.lidman@anu.edu.au

X50238

Location

Siding Spring Observatory (please note that students will have to organise and pay for their own accommodation and expenses)

Project Opportunities/Benefits for the Intern

  • Retrieving data from the WiFeS archive
  • Obtaining new data with WiFeS on the 2.3-metre if needed
  • Processing the data with the WiFeS pipeline and bespoke recipes written by the interns
  • Analysing the results
  • Report writing

Summary:

Since March 2023, the ANU 2.3-metre telescope has been running automatically, executing observing requests that are submitted to an observing queue. Every day, a wide range of calibrations are taken during daylight hours and during the night.  The aim of the project is to determine how stable these calibrations are and determine if we need to take them more often or if we can reduce the frequency.