One solution might be for UK universities to join forces and form a consortium to fund and operate these closures. Spread the risk and cost. That’s how many of the largest telescopes and facilities operate these days. One good example is the Hobby-Eberly telescope. Its Project Partners are The University of Texas at Austin, Pennsylvania State University, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. Operating Jodrell Bank would be spit in a bucket compared to the cost of Hobby-Eberly.
The astronomers in China must be laughing their 臀部 off. They didn’t have a problem building the world’s largest radio dish. Think of that cost compared to simply continuing to operate a relatively small radio dish. The UK government is clearly shortsighted.
Bart Fried
President and Founder, Antique Telescope Society
American Astronomical Society – Historical Astronomy Division
British Astronomical Association
Amateur Astronomers Association, Inc.
oldscope@gmail.com
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