§ 35. Mr. Millanasked the Minister of Labour if he will supply an occupational analysis of the unemployed in Glasgow at the latest available date.
§ Mr. C. Ian Orr-Ewing:The mirror blank presented to us by a charitable trust in the United States of America has been ground and polished to spherical form. This has established that the glass disc is suitable for use in constructing a mirror for the Isaac Newton telescope. Final figuring to parabolic form will be carried out when the mirror can be stood in its mounting which is expected to be ready next month.
§ 38. Mr. Skeffingtonasked the Civil Lord of the Admiralty what were the considerations which decided his Department to site the Isaac Newton telescope at Herstmonceux.
§ Mr. C. Ian Orr-Ewing:The Royal Society proposed and the Admiralty agreed that this telescope should be 147W situated at the Royal Greenwich Observatory at Herstmonceux.
The observing conditions at Herstmonceux are considered to be the equal of any in this country. Night observations were carried out there on 260 nights in 1959 and on 207 nights in 1960.
As the telescope will be the property of Her Majesty's Government, we considered it would be in the public interest to associate it with the country's principal observatory, with its administration vested in the Astronomer Royal.
Although the telescope is intended for general use by United Kingdom astronomers it is expected that the Royal Greenwich Observatory would itself be the principal user.