Each spring, astronomers from across Canada get together to share their research, germinate new ideas and to plan the future. Two of the ingredients are to train the best possible next crop of astronomers and to ensure that the facilities they need for their research are available. A major problem is that as astronomy continues to mature as a science, the telescopes and other instrumentation needed for cutting-edge research are becoming increasingly complex and expensive. It used to be that individuals could build and operate instruments capable of front-line research. Those days are no more.
Major instruments are now national or international projects.
In the 1840s, the Earl of Rosse built what was the largest telescope in the world. With a mirror 1.8 metres in diameter, it revealed for the rst time the spiral nature of many galaxies. However, by then the resources required for instruments capable of reaching the frontiers of research were beyond the reach of individuals. They required the resources of entire universities. This was not the most effective way of ensuring access by the whole community to front-line instruments, and in many countries, national agencies took on the responsibility of implementing and operating new research facilities.