WA minister defends observatory decision

Perth Observatory , Bickley Generic Pic Stewart Allen Picture: Allen Stewart Source: PerthNow

THE West Australian government has defended its decision to axe research at Perth Observatory, saving $300,000 but putting a handful of astronomers out of work.

WA Environment Minister Bill Marmion today said the State Government had limited funds for research so they had to be put to use effectively.

Mr Marmion said the observatory at Bickley, near Kalamunda in the Hills region, suffered from light pollution due to nearby residential development and didn't have the same capacity as the University of WA's Gingin observatory, about 84km north of Perth.

The WA government had invested $70 million in the Square Kilometre Array radiotelescope project in remote parts of the state's Murchison region, which would create spin-offs for local astronomers, he said.

And optical astronomy was simply being overtaken by radioastronomy, Mr Marmion said.

"Sometimes the hard decisions have to be made," he told ABC radio.

"We are moving our focus more towards the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and supporting (key SKA scientists) Professor (Peter) Quinn's team in what is a world-leading technology which allows telescopes to look further into the universe.

"Technology is moving on."

Mr Marmion said WA was set to lead the world in radioastronomy.

"We will still have the optical telescope at the Perth Observatory.

"We've actually got more telescopes looking up into the night sky.

"We're moving into the new age with radioastronomy and will be able to look further into the universe through our advance in technology."

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