Perth Observatory Standard Astrograph with Mr. Hyman Solomon Spigl – Perth Observatory Archives P129-1 The Perth Observatory’s 13-inch* Sir Howard Grubb ‘Standard’ Astrographic telescope arrived in Western Australia aboard the steamship Devon  in early 1898. Western Australia’s first Government Astronomer, William Ernest Cooke, was interviewed by The West Australian  newspaper in Albany on 6 November 1897, shortly after returning from England on the ship Austral . Having insp

The Perth Observatory's 6-inch* Troughton & Simms Meridian Reversible Transit Circle arrived in Australia in 1898 and was immediately put to work. Its first use was to set the State's latitude & longitude, as well as the State's standard time; from 1901 it was then used to create a standard star reference frame of 420 stars for the Perth Astrographic Catalogue covering the declination zone -32°S to -40°S. The Perth Observatory in Western Australia provided a crucial southern

This is a compelling summary of the history of Perth Observatory.