alienation news

Australian fire ruins Big Isle telescope plans

A forest and brush fire in Australia has destroyed an astronomical instrument under construction which would have put the Gemini North Telescope on Mauna Kea in the forefront of certain infrared astronomical studies.
The $3 million Near-infrared Integral-Field Spectrograph, under construction since 1999 at Australia's Mount Stromlo Observatory, was six months short of completion and installation on the Gemini North telescope, said Gemini spokesman Peter Michaud.
The instrument would have been used to study the area around black holes at the centers of galaxies and to study star formation elsewhere.