Computer science students at the APT.

During 2002 seven students from the School of Computer Science and Engineering completed their fourth year thesis projects using the Automated Patrol Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory. The projects covered a wide range of topics, including one to provide access to the telescope to classes of undergraduate and high school students.

As part of their thesis year, the students travelled to Siding Spring, near Coonabarabran in northern New South Wales, to see the telescope close-up. The students stay at a cottage rented by UNSW, and eat at the ANU Lodge where they meet astronomers using the other telescopes on the mountain.

This year, two of the students, Oliver Mather and Tony Lam, went on to be employed by the School of Physics over the summer, and provided invaluable assistance in writing software for the AASTINO experiment.

Michael Ashley