Top Aussie observatory under threat from fires
Source: AFP |
January 14, 2013, Monday
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AUSTRALIA'S top research observatory, home to several telescopes used by scientists from around the world, was under threat from wildfires yesterday as hot weather and lightning storms stoked scores of new blazes.
The Rural Fire Service of New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, issued an emergency warning for an out-of-control fire raging towards the Siding Spring Observatory, a remote global research facility.
"About a dozen isolated properties at Mt Woorut, including Siding Spring Observatory, may come under threat," the RFS said. "Police are evacuating the area. Firefighters and waterbombing aircraft are on scene."
Siding Spring, a mountain-top site in the Warrumbungle ranges about 500 kilometers north-west of Sydney, houses 10 operating telescopes run by Australian, Polish, British, Korean and American researchers.
Administered by the Australian National University's research school of astronomy and astrophysics, Siding Spring is the nation's major optical and infrared observatory and one of the top facilities in the world.
A partner observatory at Canberra's Mount Stromlo was destroyed by wildfires in January 2003 that killed four people and razed more than 500 homes.
Five telescopes, residences and over a dozen buildings were ruined in the Mount Stromlo inferno, forcing the termination of a number of major projects.
The Rural Fire Service of New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, issued an emergency warning for an out-of-control fire raging towards the Siding Spring Observatory, a remote global research facility.
"About a dozen isolated properties at Mt Woorut, including Siding Spring Observatory, may come under threat," the RFS said. "Police are evacuating the area. Firefighters and waterbombing aircraft are on scene."
Siding Spring, a mountain-top site in the Warrumbungle ranges about 500 kilometers north-west of Sydney, houses 10 operating telescopes run by Australian, Polish, British, Korean and American researchers.
Administered by the Australian National University's research school of astronomy and astrophysics, Siding Spring is the nation's major optical and infrared observatory and one of the top facilities in the world.
A partner observatory at Canberra's Mount Stromlo was destroyed by wildfires in January 2003 that killed four people and razed more than 500 homes.
Five telescopes, residences and over a dozen buildings were ruined in the Mount Stromlo inferno, forcing the termination of a number of major projects.
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