UCL Observatory celebrates 90 years with new telescope unveiling

The new, state-of-the-art Perren telescope was unveiled today at the UCL Observatory (UCLO) by Astronomer Royal, Lord Martin Rees, to celebrate 90 years since the observatory was first opened by then Astronomer Royal, Sir Frank Watson Dyson. The event also marks 100 years to the day since Professor Arthur Eddington and Sir Frank reported the first experimental evidence for general relativity using the 1919 Solar Eclipse - the discovery that made Albert Einstein a household name. Located in Mill Hill, UCLO is one of the best-equipped astronomical facilities for student training and research in the UK. The newly installed 80cm reflector is the facility's biggest telescope and joins a suite of five permanently mounted telescopes housed in the observatory's iconic domes. The telescopes are used by UCL staff and students to study planets within and outside of the solar system, asteroids and other transient phenomena such as supernova and microlensing events. They are also used to provide practical astrophysical techniques and data handling training. During a workshop in 2014, a supernova in the galaxy M 82 was discovered by four undergraduate students assisted by Dr Steve Fossey, leading to a global scramble to acquire confirming images and spectra of a supernova in one of the most unusual and interesting of our near-neighbour galaxies.