A magnificent VISTA into space

A world-leading, UK-built telescope, on a mountain-top in Chile, is preparing to survey the Southern sky.

VISTA (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (link opens in a new window)) has a 4.1 metre diameter mirror and the world's largest and widestfield near infrared camera. It will study a wide range of targets, including stars hidden by interstellar dust, very cool stars hard to detect in visible light, and the most distant galaxies where the light is stretched beyond the visible into the infrared.

“Constructing modern telescopes brings together expertise from all over the world,” said Professor Ian Robson, Director of STFC’s UK Astronomy Technology Centre which manages the VISTA project. “Such as a specialist mirror polished in Russia, for a UK-led telescope, project-managed from Edinburgh, to be assembled in Chile!” The telescope’s camera was built at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and the UK ATC (UK Astronomy Technology Centre).

VISTA was built for use at the European Southern Observatory (ESO), a research organisation consisting of 13 member countries including the UK. It is being given to ESO as part of the UK’s subscription by a consortium of 18 universities led by Queen Mary, University of London. “VISTA will be able to take sharp images of areas of the sky about 3 times larger than the full moon,” said VISTA’s Principal Investigator, Professor Jim Emerson from Queen Mary’s Astronomy Unit. “This means it can map the sky much faster and deeper than any other infrared telescope.” First science with this unique facility is expected by the end of 2009.

VISTA information

• UK expertise designed and built the telescope
• VISTA will map the 3D structure of our galaxy faster than any previous telescope
• VISTA’s surveys will help our understanding of stars, galaxies and the evolution of the early Universe
• UK industry won contracts for some of the VISTA work, such as Stainless Metalcraft near Cambridge which was awarded more than a million pounds of work for the automatic coating plant