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Establishing Mount Stromlo Observatory, 1911-1912
In 1907 Adelaide-born scientist Walter Geoffrey Duffield, then studying in England, proposed that a solar observatory be established in Australia, to undertake research on the physics of the sun. An Australian observatory would complement northern hemisphere observatories and provide better observations through the northern hemisphere winter. The Commonwealth Government, responsible for astronomy under the Australian Constitution, indicated a willingness to consider an observatory near the proposed federal capital.
An Australian Solar Physics Committee was established by Australian scientists in 1909 to continue to press for the project to be funded, and James Oddie of Ballarat offered his 9 inch refractor by Grubb for the proposed observatory. Victorian Government Astronomer Pietro Baracchi took delivery of the Oddie refractor, oversaw its repair at Melbourne Observatory, then established a temporary observatory on Mount Stromlo, near the site of the proposed capital, to test the suitability of the site.
Baracchi and his assistant astronomer Joseph Baldwin from Melbourne Observatory travelled monthly to Mount Stromlo for a week at a time, to undertake observations with the telescope. From September 1991 to late 1912 Baracchi and Baldwin took turns to travel to Mount Stomlo. They made test observations of the sun and planets, double stars and deep sky objects such as Alpha Centauri, Rigel, Kappa Crucis, Omega Centauru, 47 Tucana, Eta Carina, 30 Doradus, Theta Orionis and the Magellanic Clouds.
World War I would delay the establishment of a permanent observatory, and the Commonwealth Solar Observatory was not established until 1923, with Duffield as its director.
References:
Frame, Tom & Faulkner, Don (2003). Stromlo: An Australian Observatory, Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Items per page: 10 50 (showing 1 - 10) 17 items
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Glass Negative - Heoliostat & Telescope, Solar Eclipse Expedition, Goondiwindi, Queensland ...
Heliostat and telescope erected in hut in preparation for solar eclipse at Goondiwindi, Queensland, September 1922. Joseph Baldwin on the right of the picture. In 1922, Victorian Gover ...
From: Goondiwindi, Australia Images: 1 -
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Photograph - Construction of Oddie Dome at Mount Stromlo Observatory, 1911
Workers completing the construction of the Oddie telescope dome at Mount Stromlo, 1911. A 9 inch refracting telescope by Grubb, Dublin, was donated in 1910 by James Oddie of Ballarat, ...
From: Mt Stromlo, Australia Images: 0 -
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Photograph - Construction of Oddie Dome at Mount Stromlo Observatory, 1911
Workers completing the construction of the Oddie telescope dome at Mount Stromlo, 1911. A 9 inch refracting telescope by Grubb, Dublin, was donated in 1910 by James Oddie of Ballarat, ...
From: Mt Stromlo, Australia Images: 0 -
Glass Negative - Heoliostat & Telescope, Solar Eclipse Expedition, Goondiwindi, Queensland ...
Heliostat and telescope erected in hut in preparation for solar eclipse at Goondiwindi, Queensland, September 1922. Joseph Baldwin on the right of the picture. In 1922, Victorian Gover ...
From: Goondiwindi, Australia Images: 1 -
Glass Negative - Baldwin's Hut, Solar Eclipse Expedition, Goondiwindi, Queensland, Sep 192 ...
Observing hut of Dr Joseph Baldwin, Victorian Government Astronomer, Solar Eclipse Expedition, Goondiwindi, Queensland, Sep 1922. Baldwin, partially obscured, on the left of the picture ...
From: Goondiwindi, Australia Images: 1 -
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Photograph - Construction of Oddie Dome at Mount Stromlo Observatory, 1911
Workers completing the construction of the Oddie telescope dome at Mount Stromlo, 1911. A 9 inch refracting telescope by Grubb, Dublin, was donated in 1910 by James Oddie of Ballarat, ...
From: Mt Stromlo, Australia Images: 0 -
Pipe Stand & Pipes - Ettore Checchi, circa 1880-1920
Set of pipes which belonged to Ettore Checchi and were used by him in Melbourne during the first half of the 20th century. Ettore migrated from Florence, Italy in 1876, with two friends ...
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Glass Negative - Mount Stromlo Observatory, September 1911
Melbourne Observatory astronomers Pietro Baracchi and James Baldwin used a 9 inch refracting telescope by Grubb, Dublin, at Mount Stromlo to test the suitability of the site for the est ...
From: Mt Stromlo, Australia Images: 0 -
Negative - Pietro Baracchi, Government Astronomer
Pietro Baracchi, Government Astronomer 1895-1915,
From: South Yarra, Australia Images: 1 -
Negative - Portrait of Pietro Baracchi, Government Astronomer
Pietro Baracchi, Government Astronomer 1895-1915.
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