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Mapping the Stars at Melbourne Observatory
Image: Star Catalogue - Epoch 1870, Melbourne Observatory, 1874
Source: Museum Victoria
The task of mapping the southern skies was huge, and the astronomers at the observatories of Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide all spent a considerable amount of their time doing positional astronomy and star mapping well into the 20th century.
In 1864 Melbourne Observatory joined a collaborative project with the observatories at Madras and Cape of Good Hope to map the stars of the Southern Hemisphere. Melbourne's task was to measure the right ascension and declination of every star from the 1st to the 10th magnitude of brightness, between the celestial parallels of 60 and 80 degrees south declination. Using a new transit instrument erected in the Second Transit Room, the assistant astronomer E. J. White and second assistant astronomer C. Moerlin began a huge series of observations. By 1871 they had observed the positions of nearly 50,000 stars.
There was no doubt that the work of the Melbourne Observatory was of a very high standard. When Ellery visited Britain for 12 months in 1875, the Astronomer Royal George Airy praised Ellery's work, stating publicly that the Melbourne Observatory had published the best catalogue of the stars of the southern hemisphere.
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Chronograph - Melbourne Observatory, 1870s
Chronograph from Melbourne Observatory, designed by Government Astronomer Robert Ellery and built at the observatory workshop in the 1860s or 1870s. This was one of several chronograp ...
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 0 -
Star Catalogue - Epoch 1870, Melbourne Observatory, 1874
First Melbourne General Catalogue of Stars, for the Epoch 1870, Melbourne Observatory, 1874. The published catalogue of 1227 stars is based on observations primarily undertaken by Edwa ...
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 2 -
Star Catalogue - Epoch 1880, Melbourne Observatory, 1889
Second Melbourne General Catalogue of Stars, for the Epoch 1880, Melbourne Observatory, 1889. The published catalogue of 1211 stars is based on observations primarily undertaken by Edw ...
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 2 -
No Image Available
Chronograph - Melbourne Observatory, 1870s
Chronograph from Melbourne Observatory, designed by Government Astronomer Robert Ellery and built at the observatory workshop in the 1860s or 1870s. This was one of several chronograp ...
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 0 -
Negative - Government Astronomer Robert Ellery, Melbourne Observatory, circa 1880s
Robert Ellery, Government Astronomer, at his desk in the Astronomer's office, Melbourne Observatory.
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 1 -
Star Catalogue - Epoch 1890, Melbourne Observatory, 1917
Third Melbourne General Catalogue of Stars, for the Epoch 1880, Melbourne Observatory, 1917. The published catalogue of 3068 stars is based on observations primarily undertaken by Edwa ...
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 2 -
Digital Image - Telegram, R.L.J. Ellery to Mr Moore, Crown Lands Office, Melbourne, 1873
Telegram from R.L.J. Ellery, Government Astronomer to Mr Moore, Crown Lands Office, 14 January 1873, requesting the attendance of Frederick Kemp at Melbourne Observatory. Kemp at the t ...
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Transit Telescope - 8-inch, Troughton & Simms, London, 1883
Transit telescope with 8 inch aperture; 9 foot focal length, made by Troughton & Simms, London in 1883 and installed at Melbourne Observatory in July 1884. The telescope was ordered by ...
From: London, United Kingdom Images: 1 -
Negative - Portrait of Robert Ellery, Government Astronomer, circa 1880s
Robert Lewis John Ellery, Victorian Government Astronomer
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 1 -
Mounted Print - At the Melbourne Observatory, Watching for the Comet, 1884
Coloured engraving of an astronomer using the 8 inch south equatorial telescope at Melbourne Observatory to view a comet. From the front page of The Illustrated Australian News, 19 Marc ...
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 1
