This is just super cool

Siding Spring Observatory near Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Australia, part of the Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics (RSAA) at the Australian National University (ANU), incorporates the Anglo-Australian Telescope along with a collection of other telescopes owned by the Australian National University, the University of New South Wales, and other institutions. The observatory is situated 1,165 metres above sea level in the Warrumbungle National Park on Mount Woorat. Astralis Instrumentation Consortium is a leading astronomical instrument designer and builder, with 100 instrument scientists and skilled engineers from Macquarie University, Australian National University and the University of Sydney. Astralis is building Hector. Hector is the next dark time instrument for the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) at Siding Spring Observatory. The new workhorse instrument will carry out a survey of 15,000 galaxies, using unique fibre-based integral field units, called hexabundles. The hexabundle technology allows for a 3D view of stars and gas in galaxies, including the rotations and complex kinematics that cannot be seen by single-fibre galaxy surveys.  The new Hector spectrograph will provide the highest spectral resolution of any large multi-object integral field spectroscopic survey, and the new positioner’s unique design will minimise losses due to telescope telecentricity for the first time. The Hector Galaxy Survey will explore how galaxies in the local Universe formed by using the dynamics of stars and gas to reveal how mass and angular momentum build up and how star formation evolved to create the vast array of galaxy morphologies seen today. Sydney Watches Pty Ltd is proud to be part of Hector project. In the past 12 months we have manufactured a number of parts for Hector. It is an absolute privilege and honour to be part of this exciting 'manufactured in Australia' project, and being recognized as a reliable supplier of high precision components. Seeing our parts featured on Astral's website is one of those 'hey, we made that!' moments. https://astralis.org.au/hector-the-multi-object-integral-field-spectrograph-for-the-aat-nearing-completion/

Prism being glued to the face of the hexabundle. Photo credit: Adeline Wang/Astralis-Usyd