Dunsink observatory and its possible closure!!!!!!!

Hi guys.

The radio is certainly one way to go about getting the word out on this - I want to chat to the Dunsink people first to nail things down on what exactly can and cannot be said legally. Indeed, Evert or someone else like Brian McBreen or Mark Bailey may want to do it instead - as someone who has left Ireland, I may or may not be the best person for it, but we'll see....

Brian

Evert or someone else like Brian McBreen or Mark Bailey may want to do it instead - as someone who has left Ireland, I may or may not be the best person for it, but we'll see....

Brian

Sorry Brian, but I disagree with you slightly. First of all, you are not employed by Dunsink are you? Then, you can simlpy start the ball rolling, ring in as a show listener, get it off your chest, and let the rest of Ireland take it from there. I don't think you should worry about what is legal/illegal - its no different if I, a nobody, rang in and said the same things I would urge you to say, a person who has valuable experience of the place. I would not be taken for legal proceedings, and neither would you.

Don't let DIAS-like thinking make you feel unsure how to express yourself on this - go do it! IFAS IS right behind you!


S.

Since no-one else has posted his mail yet.. This is from Terry Moseley.

Hi folks,

You'll probably have seen my other email about the decision to close Dunsink Observatory (subject to final confirmation - but I'm fairly sure it's correct).

So what do we do - if anything?

One possible option is to campaign for 'responsibility' or 'custody' of the 12" South refractor & dome to be handed over to IFAS, or to an umbrella group comprising all amateur astronomer bodies in Ireland. The latter would have to include A.I. In fact, I can't see the former being approved, as it would exclude A.I., which like it or not is the largest amateur (OK, let's not argue about definitions here) astronomy organsiation in Ireland. How would others feel about that?

With equal voting rights for each member Club/Society, such a group could not be dominated by any one Club, no matter how big. But it would mean all of us working together to a common objective, regardless of past problems or personality differences. Is that possible?

Other questions:

1. Would 'we' want to take on that responsibility?
2. Could we do it in practice, i.e. could we devote the necessary, and continuing, time & resources & people to use it & manage it & maintain it?
3. What would we actually do with it? Use for observation by members of our clubs? For public open nights? For a mixture of both?
4. What use would it be to the more distant member clubs? If it ends up being used by, or just maintained by, the Greater Dublin based clubs only, will the other clubs continue to want to be involved?
5. What about insurance - for us, and for the telescope & dome?
6. Could it become a 'poisoned chalice' , or a 'white elephant', for us,?

Could someone please post this to the IFAS forum, as I can't do it!

Thanks,

Terry Moseley

If the IFAS doesnt get a foot in the door, you know who will get in and close the door behind them.
Could the IFAS commitee meet up with DIAS and try and work out something, like you said Terry it will propabily have to include AI.

As I'm 125 miles way, I would not be there every month, but if IFAS had a say in running it, Id try and organise visits from SAC every 6 - 8 months or so, I' myself would try visit more often then that.

The Sunday Times - Ireland

October 24, 2004

My observations
YOU state that Dunsink Observatory is “out of date and (would be) too costly to upgrade” (Observatory closes doors on astronomy, News, October 10).

This is largely nonsense. As a place of scientific research, Dunsink is very modern and up to date. It would be “out of date” if anybody attempted to perform scientific observations from Dunsink itself, but that is not the way we work. Observational data may be collected at observatories abroad, or from satellite observatories. The point is to have the right infrastructure (computers and software), which are all in place. To say it is “too costly to upgrade” is similarly illogical. The current set-up is already very good for modern academic work, with computer connections, computer power and library resources; upgrading is not really the issue.

Calling astronomy a “laboratory-based activity” may also give the wrong impression.

A better way of phrasing it would be to say it is “a largely IT-based activity”.

Professor Evert Meurs
Director, Dunsink Observatory, Dublin