The galaxy measuring engine project

The GALAXY machine announced earlier this year is the first of its kind to bring complete automation to processes of optical astronomy. Coupled with the 40-cm Schmidt telescope and a computer at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, it enables astronomers to process data from the telescope in a fraction of the time it has taken in the past. It can find and measure a thousand star images in an hour. Professor Fellgett, who conceived the idea of GALAXY in 1955, describes the machine and maintains that it is likely to be exploited in many other ways, including draughting and measurement of integrated circuits.