Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, vol. 146, nos. 449 & 450, pp. 142-152. ISSN 0035-9173/13/020142-11.

Some aspects of the scientific development and astronomical research of Penny Sackett

Ragbir Bhathal*

School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South NSW 2751.

* Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract Penny Sackett was the Director of the Research School for and Astrophysics at the Australian National University from 2002 to 2007 and is currently an Adjunct Professor at the same institution. She has made several significant contributions to dark matter in galaxies, galactic structure, microlensing and the search and characterisation of extrasolar planets. This paper looks at some aspects of the trajectory that led her to being appointed the Director of Mount Stromlo Observatory, one of ’s internationally well known scientific institutions.

Keywords: Extrasolar planets, dark matter, galaxies, large optical telescopes

Introduction faculty that I inherited was stunning. You know, Bessell, Freeman, Peterson, Norris, Penny Sackett had a remarkable career that Dopita and Schmidt. They were absolutely spanned three continents, viz: America, first rate, splendid teachers almost to a Europe and Australia. She belongs to a person and so really it was a matter of select group of scientific nomads who cross trying to reinvigorate that with some national borders seamlessly in the younger blood as well and watch the intellectual pursuit of the moving frontiers tradition continue”. of astrophysics. She was the first woman scientist to become the Director of a major astronomical institution in Australia. She Tragedy took over the Directorship of Mount However, even before she had time to Stromlo Observatory in July 2002. She was settle down into her new job, tragedy no stranger to Australia, as she had visited struck. It was on a hot summers day on 18 the country previously on her observation January 2003 that fires engulfed Mount runs associated with her projects at the Stromlo and the Observatory. It was the Anglo-Australian Observatory. What most terrible catastrophe to befall the prompted her to apply for the Directorship, institution. The fires were so severe that she said, “was the reputation of the people they left a trail of devastation that had that worked there and also because of the never been seen before. Only the charred place it held in world astronomy”. She remains of the once magnificent telescopes came with a vision. According to her, “The stood as silent witnesses in their burnt out domes including the $4 million Near Infra-

142 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES Bhathal – Astronomical research of Penny Sackett red Field Spectrograph (NIFS) that was Nevertheless, she pushed on. After the undergoing final testing before being fires Sackett drew up a strategic plan for the shipped to the Gemini North Telescope in years 2003 to 2007 in consultation with the Hawaii had been turned into a blackened staff to decide where the Observatory melted mass. According to Sackett, “When should be heading. This included, she said, the damage was assessed it was clear that “things like developing new leadership roles we had lost all our research facilities – that in the next generation of telescopes, is, all of our research telescopes on the increasing the number of graduate students mountain, all of our library facilities, and that came to Mount Stromlo, increasing the our workshop where we had built efficiency of the telescopes at Siding Spring instruments for our telescopes and and supporting those that were most telescopes for other organisations”. It was productive, expanding the breadth of the a difficult time for Sackett and a lesser knowledge of the faculty, and maintaining person would have probably thrown and