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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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Negative - Assistant on the Astrograph Project, Melbourne Observatory, circa 1905
Female assistant using a photographic plate measuring machine to measure the precise positions of stars for the international Astrograph Project, around 1905. The machine being used is ...
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 1 -
Negative - Astrograph House, Melbourne Observatory, 1969
Astrograph House, Melbourne Observatory
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 1 -
No Image Available
Measuring Rods - 10 Foot, Geodetic Survey of Victoria, 1860
Three iron measuring rods used in the Geodetic Survey of Victoria in the 1860s. The measuring rods were used to measure accurately a base line of approximately 5 miles near Werribee. Di ...
From: London, United Kingdom Images: 0 -
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Glass Positive - Orion Nebula, Melbourne Observatory, 1890
Photo of Orion Nebula taken by Robert Ellery at Melbourne Observatory, 23 Dec 1890. Probably taken with the newly erected Astrograph telescope.
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 0 -
Photograph - Chronograph, Melbourne Observatory, South Yarra, Victoria, 1890s
Chronograph for recording exposures on the Astrograph Telescope, Melbourne Observatory. The Astrograph, by Grubb of Dublin, was installed at Melbourne Observatory in 1891. Photograph i ...
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 1 -
No Image Available
Glass Positive - Stars, Melbourne Observatory, 1891
Experimental photograph of star cluster taken by Robert Ellery with the Astrograph telescope at Melbourne Observatory on 13 February 1891, soon after its installation.
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Glass Positive - Stars, Melbourne Observatory, 1891
Experimental photograph of star cluster taken by Robert Ellery with the Astrograph telescope at Melbourne Observatory on 3 February 1891, soon after its installation.
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 0 -
No Image Available
Glass Positive - Stars, Melbourne Observatory, 1890
Experimental photograph of stars taken by Robert Ellery at Melbourne Observatory on 24 Dec 1890, in preparation for the Astrograph project.
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 0 -
No Image Available
Glass Positive - Stars, Melbourne Observatory, 1891
Experimental photograph of stars taken by Robert Ellery with the Astrograph telescope at Melbourne Observatory on 18 January 1891, soon after its installation.
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 0 -
No Image Available
Glass Positive - Star Cluster, Melbourne Observatory, 1891
Experimental photograph of star cluster taken by Robert Ellery with the Astrograph telescope at Melbourne Observatory on 17 February 1891, soon after its installation.
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 0
