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Our annual workshop will be held on Wednesday 19 November 2025, 2pm to 5:15pm AEDT (UTC+11). It is open to members and non-members of the ASA and the Chapter and is free of charge. It is essential to register to attend on-line, and/or to receive recordings after the event. Select this button: Once you register you will receive a confirmation and a Zoom link will be provided the day before the workshop. All who register will receive information about how to download the recorded talks after the event. PROGRAM 2pm Introduction and acknowledgement of country (Nick Lomb) 2:10 Sir Thomas Brisbane’s Parramatta Observatory Revisited, 1821–1825 (Mark Rigby and Tom Harradine) 2:35 Making them visible: women in astronomy in Australia (Toner Stevenson) 3:00 How Australian Astronomers Cooked Up a High-Fibre Diet (Fred Watson) 3:25 Grote Reber in Tasmania (Martin George) 3:50 Indigenous astronomy: history, challenges and what we have learned (Duane Hamacher) 4:15 Observing the “Man-made Moons”: the Role of Australian Amateur Astronomers in Operation Moonwatch (Kerrie Dougherty) 4:40 Narrabri Stellar Intensity Interferometer (Stephanie Rossini-Bryson) 5pm Closing remarks The full program with abstracts and bios is available here: Notes: Each presentation is approximately 20 minutes in length and there will be a few minutes after each presentation for questions and discussion.

Original GOTO Model M-1, opto-mechanical star projector, with an audience attending the Planetarium around 1970 (Credit: Museums Victoria). A webinar from the Astronomical Society of Australia's History of Australian Astronomy Chapter (HAAC), in collaboration with the Australasian Planetarium Society. This event will be held on Wednesday 22 April 2026, 3.30pm – 4.30pm AEST (UTC+10). It is open to members and non-members of the ASA and the Chapter and is free of charge. It is essential to register to attend on-line, and/or to receive recordings after the event. Once you register you will receive a confirmation and a Zoom link will be provided the day before the workshop. All who register will receive information about how to download the recorded talks after the event. Speakers: Martin George (HIVE Planetarium, Ulverstone), Martin Bush (University of Melbourne) and Tanya Hill (Melbourne Planetarium, Museums Victoria) Abstract: The Melbourne Planetarium - Australia’s oldest operating planetarium – celebrated its 60th birthday at the end of 2025. The present planetarium at Scienceworks continues the legacy of its predecessor, Melbourne’s H. V. McKay Planetarium, which opened on 2 December 1965, at a time when interest in astronomy and space exploration was rapidly taking off. Last year also marked the 100th anniversary of the modern planetarium, with the first public planetarium session taking place at the Deutsches Museum, Munich on 7 May 1925. Join our planetarium experts, as they detail the development of the planetarium industry around the world and specifically within Australasia, the challenges of establishing the H. V. McKay Planetarium and the technological advances that underpin the Melbourne Planetarium today.

Original GOTO Model M-1, opto-mechanical star projector, with an audience attending the Planetarium around 1970 (Credit: Museums Victoria). A webinar from the Astronomical Society of Australia's History of Australian Astronomy Chapter (HAAC), in collaboration with the Australasian Planetarium Society (APS) was held on Wednesday 22 April 2026, 3.30pm – 4.30pm AEST (UTC+10). The good news is that we now have a recording of the 3 talks. Nick Lomb (HAAC Chair) opened the meeting with an acknowledgement of country and introduced each speaker: Martin George (International Planetarium Society) TOPIC: General history of planetariums, including IPS and APS Martin Bush (The University of Melbourne) TOPIC : Challenges of establishing a planetarium in Melbourne - the H.V. McKay Planetarium Tanya Hill (Museums Victoria) TOPIC: Scienceworks years – growth of technology Abstract: The Melbourne Planetarium - Australia’s oldest operating planetarium – celebrated its 60th birthday at the end of 2025. The present planetarium at Scienceworks continues the legacy of its predecessor, Melbourne’s H. V. McKay Planetarium, which opened on 2 December 1965, at a time when interest in astronomy and space exploration was rapidly taking off. Last year also marked the 100th anniversary of the modern planetarium, with the first public planetarium session taking place at the Deutsches Museum, Munich on 7 May 1925. Join our planetarium experts, as they detail the development of the planetarium industry around the world and specifically within Australasia, the challenges of establishing the H. V. McKay Planetarium and the technological advances that underpin the Melbourne Planetarium today.

Students with a transit instrument mounted on the pier on the tower, 1901. University of Melbourne. Four observatories, hidden and inaccessible, are perched on the rooftops of buildings at the University of Melbourne’s main Parkville campus. They reflect the keen interest in astronomy by several professors and a time when astronomical observation was an integral part of surveying, before the advent of GPS. Engineering & Geology Schools, c. 1908 The distinctive tower of the Old Engineering Building of 1899 houses a surveying platform on the roof, where students could use a theodolite to survey to trig points at Mounts Macedon and Dandenong. At the rear of the building is a complete astronomical observatory. Steep wooden steps ascend to a flat observing platform and a timber and iron transit room. The transit room is located so that the brick pier to support the instrument was sitting firmly on the join of the major walls below, thereby connected to the foundations. The Advanced Surveying course in 1900 included ‘Elements of spherical trigonometry; Determination of latitude, azimuth, time and longitude; Geodetic surveying.’ The state of the transit room in 2026. The observatory was likely to have been a collaboration between professor of engineering William Kernot and mathematical physicist Thomas Lyle, professor of natural philosophy. Both men were members of the Board of Visitors of the Melbourne Observatory, and government astronomer Robert Ellery was a longstanding senior member of the University Council and had directed the Geodetic Survey of Victoria. The Old Engineering observatories were replaced in 1964 by a large platform on the Hydraulics and Surveying Building. The observatories in Old Engineering are now locked, accessible only to contractors servicing the HVAC equipment that clutters the spaces. The former 1964 observatory is now a research student workspace with sweeping views of the CBD and the mountain range to the north. The one operating observatory is on the 9 th  floor of the David Caro Building of the School of Physics. This small space with sliding roof houses a 4½ inch equatorial telescope by Thomas Cooke & Son of York, acquired by Melbourne Observatory in 1874. The portable instrument was initially used during the Transit of Venus then subsequently for eclipse expeditions. The telescope was later loaned to the university for the use of professor chemistry Ernst Hartung, a keen amateur astronomer, then transferred to the university after the closure of Melbourne Observatory in 1945. While several universities around Australia are known to house larger instruments and observatories, it seems likely that there are other rooftop secrets to be discovered and documented. About the author Dr Richard Gillespie is the Senior Curator, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology; Honorary Principal Fellow, School of Historical & Philosophical Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne. For 25 years he worked at Museums Victoria , developing Science Works , the Immigration Museum, Melbourne Museum , and becoming a manager within the Museums Victoria team.

This is part 1 of a two-part series. The history of Adelaide Observatory begins not with astronomy, but with the colonial ambition to connect a telegraph line between Australia and England. Charles Todd (1826 - 1910) was an astronomer, initially employed in 1841 at Greenwich Observatory as an astronomical computer under Astronomer Royal, Sir George Biddell Airy (1801-92) (1). He rose to Assistant Astronomer at Cambridge University Observatory from 1848-54 under James Challis (1803-82) (2) but he returned to Greenwich Observatory in 1854, again under Airy, where his interests expanded beyond astronomy to electricity and telegraphic communications (1). Airy was Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881 and he had a major influence over the astronomy appointments and activities across what was then the British Empire (2).  In response to a request from the South Australian Government Airy recommended Todd to the Government of South Australia as the Government Astronomer and Superintendent of Telegraphs of South Australia (3).   Charles Todd: Superintendent of Telegraphs and Postmaster General Todd, and his wife Alice Gillam Bell (1836 - 1898), arrived in Adelaide in 1855 (Fig 1). In the following year Todd connected Port Adelaide to the Adelaide city centre by telegraph (1). Fig 1: Ambrotype of Charles Todd and Alice Gillam Bell on their wedding day in Cambridge, 1855, Courtesy State Library South Australia, B 69996/9/EN. By 1860 the Todds had built a substantial house (Fig 2) on the same site as smaller buildings that housed the observatory and meteorological equipment would later be constructed. Fig 2 : The two-story house with a substantial veranda built for the Todd family. Note the large telegraph line and the transit room and the meteorological instruments on the tower, courtesy State Library South Australia B-23931 Todd is recognised for planning and overseeing the construction of the overland telegraph line from Adelaide through to Palmerston (now named Darwin) in the Northern Territory in historical records and place names (4). From Darwin there was an undersea link through to London. Completed in 1872, this was an incredible feat across 3,000 km, much of which was harsh landscape. In recent times historian Robyn Smith’s research has revealed that the construction of the telegraph line and later operation of the telegraph had a devastating impact on the Indigenous People who lived along the route (5). Todd was the South Australian Postmaster General, and from his Adelaide office, he gave authority to the actions of telegraph employees throughout South Australia and into what was known as the Northern Territory of South Australia (now a separately  governed territory), including reprisals such as the one that occurred at Roper River, that resulted in the massacre of Aboriginal People (5). It is important to acknowledge that the construction of the telegraph line was considered as a major triumph, advancing the colony, but it also had detrimental impacts on First Nations People.   Government astronomer and meteorologist Adelaide Observatory was initially a meteorological station, with meteorological equipment and housing constructed close to the Todd's home. But in 1867 Todd borrowed a small 3 ¼ inch transit telescope made by Troughton and Simms from the Victorian Government to observe the stars for timekeeping to provide time signals to the state (Fig 3). Fig 3: Portable transit telescope by Troughton & Simms, c. 1850, collection Museums Victoria ST 22217, photograph Nick Crotty By 1873 a transit building was constructed as an annexe to the residence as seen in Fig.4. Enthusiasm by Todd to conduct transit of Venus observations in 1874, and possibly Airy's influence, convinced the South Australian State Government to fund construction of a substantial astronomical dome and purchase an 8-inch equatorial telescope, made by Cooke and Sons of York (3). The telescope was constructed under Airy’s supervision (6). Todd observed the 1874 transit through the 8-inch equatorial telescope in the newly constructed circular building topped by a timber-framed done that rotated on cannonballs as seen in Fig. 5 (1). Fig 4: Adelaide Observatory c 1880 with the equatorial telescope dome in the foreground. In the background the meteorology shade structure and transit room can be seen. State Library South Australia SRG-94-2-13-37, colorised. Fig. 5: The Cooke and Sons equatorial telescope inside the new dome 1874. Photograph courtesy State Library South Australia B12156. Todd's observations of the 1874 transit of Venus and his analysis that the 'nebulous haze' he observed around the planet was the Venusian atmosphere was not the first time this effect had been observed and analysed (6). Todd's data was used in a report to the British Parliament in 1878 due to the accurate time he recorded, information that, with observations from other locations, could be used to determine the mean distance from the Earth to the Sun, known as the Astronomical Unit (AU).   In part 2 you will read about the period from the next transit of Venus that occurred in 1882 to 1952 when Adelaide Observatory was demolished.   References and footnotes 1. Edwards, P.G. (1993) ‘Charles Todd and the Adelaide Observatory’, Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia , 10(4), pp. 349–354. doi:10.1017/S1323358000026023. 2. Hutchins, R. (2008). British University Observatories 1772–1939 (1st ed.), Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315261263 , p.71 and p.81. 3. Haynes, R., Haynes, R.D., Malin, D., McGee, R. (1996) Explorers of the Southern Sky: A History of Australian Astronomy, Cambridge University Press, pp. 81–86. 4. For example, the river that during wet months flows through Alice Springs is called the 'Todd' River, and the naming of Alice Springs after Todd's wife. 5. Smith, R. (2024) Licence to kill: massacre men of Australia's north, Historical Society of the Northern Territory, p.p.70-71, 74, 182, 364. 6. Edwards, P. G.(2004) “Charles Todd's observations of the transits of Venus”, Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 1–7, https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004JAHH....7....1E   About the author Toner Stevenson has a doctorate in the Social Sciences and she researches the history of astronomy in Australia, particularly the contribution of women, marginalised and lesser-known people. Her museum career includes manager, Sydney Observatory, the Powerhouse Ultimo, Head of House Museums for the Museums of History NSW and project manager, the Natural History Museum, London. Toner managed the school of Humanities at the University of Sydney and is a research affiliate with The University of Sydney Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, school of Humanities in the discipline of history.

This is part 2 of a two-part series. As discussed in the previous blog post, the South Australian Government Astronomer, Charles Todd, made interesting observations during the 1874 transit of Venus, and his timing was accurate despite the clouds that hampered some of his observations. Todd also successfully observed the 1882 transit of Venus from the town of Wentworth, in south west New South Wales as part of the group of astronomers determining longitude for different locations in Australia (1). Todd’s 1882 observations were made with a 4 ½ inch equatorial telescope that had belonged to Charles Babbage (1781-1871) renowned inventor of the Difference Engine and the Analytical Engine, early computing machines (2,3). Babbage’s son, Benjamin Herschel Babbage (1815-1878) who was an engineer and explorer, arrived in Australia in 1851. He was employed by Todd for contract management on the Overland Telegraph line (4) and this is possibly how the telescope came to be used by Todd. By the 1880s Todd had proven Adelaide Observatory's proficiency in meteorology, surveying, timekeeping and research astronomy. But he was still using a borrowed transit telescope and this required replacement. Fig. 1 caption: Transit room constructed in the 1880s with the Troughton and Sims transit telescope. Photograph c.1910 showing recently appointed Director, Richard Griffiths, courtesy State Library South Australia, B22764.   In 1881 the original transit room was replaced by a new structure fitted out to accommodate a substantial 6inch (152mm) aperture, 85 inches (2.2m) focal length transit telescope as seen in Fig. 1. With this instrument and associated equipment, and an increase in staff, the observatory could now collaborate with other observatories on determining star positions and other astronomical observations. Todd also installed seismology detectors, and, in 1900, he established the first wireless telegraphy station in Australia with his son-in-law, the future Nobel laureate, William Henry Bragg.   Involvement in the Astrographic Catalogue In 1887 Through the transit of Venus observations, and the continued expansion of Adelaide Observatory and subsequent astronomical endeavours, Todd was well connected with the Government astronomers of Victoria and New South Wales.  In 1887 Sydney and Melbourne Observatorys committed to participate in two major international astrometry projects called the Astrographic Catalogue and Carte du Ciel (AC-CdC). Even though Adelaide Observatory did not take responsibility for an AC-CdC zone, Todd’s first Assistant Astronomer, William Ernest Cooke (1863-1947), undertook the positional and reference star work for the Melbourne Observatory zone (-65 deg to -90 deg). The existing Southern Hemisphere star catalogues were not extensive enough to provide the 12 reference stars required on each photographic glass plate (5).   The observing logbooks in the South Australian archives reveal that from 1890 to 1897, under the supervision by Cooke, half of the observations and all the calculations for the Melbourne zone reference star catalogue were performed by Mary Emma Greayer (1861-1910) as seen in Fig. 2 (5).   Fig. 2 : Adelaide Observatory staff c1895 (L to R) Charles Todd, William Ernest Cooke and Mary Emma Greayer, courtesy Perth Observatory, donated B. Minchin (uncatalogued), colourised   In 1892 a South Australian Astronomy Society was established with Todd as the president and Greayer joined the society, as did Todd's daughters Maude and Lorna (6). There were other well-known members including engineer Alexander Wilson Dobbie (1843-1912) (7). In 1897 Cooke left Adelaide Observatory and moved to Perth where he was appointed the Government Astronomer for Western Australia (6). In 1899 Greayer married the assistant astronomer Richard Griffiths and left the observatory, much to the disappointment of Todd because Greayer was a capable astronomer and human computer (6). In 1906 Griffiths succeeded Todd as the Government Astronomer but he resigned in 1907 to join the new Federal Bureau of Meteorology in Melbourne. Greayer and Griffiths had four children and it seems that Greayer did not pursue astronomy further and she died in Victoria in 1910 (6).   A new era under George Dodwell Fig. 3: George Dodwell and Annie Trehy on their wedding day in 1907, unknown photographer. The next Government astronomer was George Frederic Dodwell (1879-1963), who was appointed in 1909 and with his wife, Annie Louisa Virginia Trehy (1870-1924), who was also a qualified scientist, a new era for Adelaide Observatory began (Fig.3). Dodwell's observations of three total solar eclipses have been documented by Lomb and Stevenson (8,9). From 1909, under Dodwell’s direction, Melbourne zone stars were once again observed and reference stars for the Sydney Zone (-51° to -60°) were observed between 1914 and 1920 (10).   Closure and demolition of Adelaide Observatory The identification of meteorites, latitude variations, comets and other work continued through to when the observatory was determined by the State as no longer its responsibility. Its functions were , to some extent, taken over by the University of Adelaide in 1930 (11,12) but the promised Professor of Astronomy position did not eventuate for Dodwell, and he pressed on with few resources. At every step of the way Dodwell made public the significance of Adelaide Observatory as an historical site, and continuing relevance (12,13).   Fig. 4: Dome built at University of Adelaide in the 1960s, Photograph 1971, courtesy Adelaide University archive UA-00006720. Demolition of Adelaide Observatory commenced in 1946 to make land available for Adelaide High School but according to the archival files, transit and other observations continued until 1948 (12) and Dodwell operated Adelaide Observatory in a reduced form until 1952 when he retired and the remaining buildings were demolished. A new dome was constructed for the equatorial telescope at the University of Adelaide  (Fig.4) and the equatorial telescope by Cooke and Sons was relocated with enhancements (Fig.5).   Fig. 5: Equatorial telescope inside the University of Adelaide, Photograph 1971, courtesy Adelaide University archive UA-00006721.   In 2014 archaeological work on the old Adelaide Observatory site by archaeologist Dr Cameron Hartnell unearthed the foundations for the transit and equatorial telescope buildings and a plaque was installed in the new school building acknowledging the Adelaide Observatory astronomers, including Mary Emma Greayer (6). References and footnotes 1. Lomb, N. (2011) Transit of Venus: 1631 to the Present, Sydney: NewSouth Books & Powerhouse Publishing, p.147 and p.163. 2. Anonymous (1882) 1882 'THE TRANSIT OF VENUS.', South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900) , 24 November, p. 7. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article43327250 3. Edwards, P.G. (2007) ‘Alice's astronomical ancestry’, Astrophysical Masers and their Environments , 2007, vol. 242, pp. 1–6. doi:10.1017/S1743921307012483. 4. Symes,G.W. (1969) 'Babbage, Benjamin Herschel (1815–1878)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/babbage-benjamin-herschel-1550/text4195 . 5. Stevenson, T. (2014) ‘Making Visible the First Women in Astronomy in Australia: The Measurers and Computers Employed for the Astrographic Catalogue’, Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 31, p. e018. doi:10.1017/pasa.2014.12. 6. Stevenson, T. (2016) Measuring the stars and observing the less visible: Australia's participation in the Astrographic Catalogue and Carte du Ciel', University of Sydney, http://hdl.handle.net/2123/15762 , p. 180, p.p. 195-199. 7. Edwards, P.G. (1993) ‘Charles Todd and the Adelaide Observatory’, Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia , 10(4), pp. 349–354. doi:10.1017/S1323358000026023. 8. Lomb, N. Stevenson, T. (2023) Eclipse Chasers, CSIRO Publishing, p.p. 62-70, p.p. 96-99. 9. Stevenson, T. McMorrow, K. (2026) Eclipsed but not forgotten: two lesser-known Australian expeditions to the 1922 total solar eclipse. Historical Records of Australian Science  2026; HR25013. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR25013 10. State Records South Australia, (GRG 31/50 SRSA). 11. Haynes, R., Haynes, R.D., Malin, D., McGee, R. (1996) Explorers of the Southern Sky: A History of Australian Astronomy, Cambridge University Press, pp. 81–86. 12. Edwards PG. The Adelaide Observatory after Todd. Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia . 1994;11(2):206-210. doi:10.1017/S1323358000019925 13. Dodwell, G.F. (1932) 'ADELAIDE OBSERVATORY', The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954) , 23 April, p. 9., http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46854385   For further research and to access a list of South Australian government records: King, S. https://www.naa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-02/research-guide-government-records-south-australia.pdf   About the author Toner Stevenson has a doctorate in the Social Sciences and she researches the history of astronomy in Australia, particularly the contribution of women, marginalised and lesser-known people. Her museum career includes manager, Sydney Observatory, the Powerhouse Ultimo, Head of House Museums for the Museums of History NSW and project manager, the Natural History Museum, London. Toner managed the school of Humanities at the University of Sydney and is a research affiliate with The University of Sydney Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, school of Humanities in the discipline of history.

Perth Observatory Standard Astrograph with Mr. Hyman Solomon Spigl – Perth Observatory Archives P129-1 (Copy Government Printing Office D9925) 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 inspected the telescope during his visit to England, Cooke reported that he was carrying with him the two objective lenses of the instrument. Current research indicates that the telescope was installed at the Observatory in July 1898. Its first recorded astronomical use is noted in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society  (Vol. 59, p. 151) on 13 November 1898, when a hand-held camera was attached to the telescope’s tube to photograph the Leonid's meteor shower. During 1899 and 1900, however, the telescope’s use was limited due to funding restrictions, a shortage of staff, and the Observatory’s initial focus on meteorological work. During this period, it was employed mainly for the benefit of visitors. By November 1901, the telescope was dedicated exclusively to observations for the International Astrographic Catalogue (AC), covering the declination zone –32°S to –40°S, a project that continued for the next 20 years. Constructed in 1897, the telescope comprised a 10-inch** visual refractor (the top tube in the image above), and a 13-inch* photographic tube with a glass plate holder (the bottom tube in the image above). The telescope can still be seen at the Perth Observatory in Bickley, Western Australia. *33cm **25. 4cm

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 hemisphere astrometric observatory connection between the Eastern States (Sydney & Melbourne observatories) and Cape Town Observatory in South Africa. The telescope can still be seen in the foyer of the main building at the Perth Observatory in Bickley, Western Australia after being fully restored for the Observatory's centenary in 1996. *15cm Perth Observatory Meridian Transit Circle - Photo Perth Observatory Archives (Copy Government Printing Office D9925)

1926 Replacement of the NSW Government Astronomer   William Cooke in his office at Sydney Observatory soon after his appointment in 2012. Town and Country Journal , Wednesday 21 August 1912, p34. Colourised image.   William Ernest Cooke (1863–1947) had been the NSW Government Astronomer since 1912, when in 1925 the state government decided to close Sydney Observatory and abolish Cooke’s position. A new premier of NSW, the fiery Jack Lang (1876–1975), wanted to close the Observatory on the basis that, just as the Commonwealth had taken over weather forecasting, it should also be responsible for astronomical work. There were strong objections to this plan from the Observatory’s Board of Visitors and from the various scientific societies in the State.   The objections had an effect. The government decided to allow the Observatory to continue its work, but with a much reduced staff. Cooke still had to retire and he was replaced by the Superintendent of Technical Education, James Nangle, in an honorary capacity and taking no salary. A bitter Cooke’s last day at Sydney Observatory was 31 August 1926.   Further reading Nick Lomb (2023). Closing Encounters: The Efforts of the NSW Branch of the British Astronomical Association to Save Sydney Observatory. In: Gullberg, S., Robertson, P. (eds) Essays on Astronomical History and Heritage. Historical & Cultural Astronomy . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29493-8_28   Ian Tasker (2019). Power, politics and personalities in Australian astronomy: William Ernest Cooke and the triangulation of the Pacific by wireless time signals. Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage , Volume 22, Issue 1, 2019, Page 113 – 131. https://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1440-2807.2019.01.07   1976 The Melbourne Eclipse   The track of the 1976 total solar eclipse across south-east Australia. The red line is the centre line, while the purple lines are the northern and southern limits of the eclipse track. Drawing Nick Lomb, underlying map https://d-maps.com/   The eclipse track of the 23 October 1976 eclipse reached Australia at the coast of South Australia, near Millicent. It then crossed over Victoria and exited mainland Australia in NSW, near the south coast town of Merimbula.   Elaborate plans were drawn up by the authorities for the 2 minute 45 seconds of totality to be seen from Melbourne, then with a population of 2.8 million people. These mainly involved warnings to the public not to watch the eclipse directly, as it was too dangerous, and only watch on television. Posters on street corners screamed, “WARNING! SOLAR ECLIPSE TODAY’, with similar flyers inserted into newspapers on the day of the eclipse.   This was a major overreaction to protecting people’s eyesight. Part of the problem was that, as yet, there were no accepted safe filters for viewing the partial phases of the eclipse. Available filters were welding filters, smoked glass and exposed black and white photographic film. These were not fully trusted. Neither were the new aluminium-coated mylar filters being marketed by American astronomy retailer Roger Tuthill. These latter filters are now ubiquitous as solar filters, but back in 1976, there was no international standard for their use.   To the relief of the authorities, it was cloudy in Melbourne during the eclipse, preventing eye damage for the public. Similarly, it was cloudy at the NSW town of Bombala, where most professional and serious amateur astronomers had set up their observing equipment.   Further reading Nick Lomb and Toner Stevenson (2023) Eclipse Chasers , CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne

The Great Melbourne Telescope sketched in the Adelaide Post , 19 May 1868.   From many years from 1869 onwards, the City of Melbourne could boast of having the largest steerable telescope in the world. Known as the Great Melbourne Telescope, it was truly large with a total weight of 10 tonnes and a tube that was nine-metres long. The Irish telescope makers Thomas and Howard Grubb of Dublin, had built the huge telescope, under the supervision of a committee of eminent British astronomers. In Melbourne, it was placed in a building with a roll-off roof that was located some distance away from the other buildings of Melbourne Observatory, so that the mass of metal should not disturb readings by magnetic instruments.   The maker’s plate on the GMT. Photo Nick Lomb, cleaned up by Gemini.   The telescope had interchangeable metal mirrors, a 1.2 metre diameter primary mirror and an 0.25-metre diameter secondary mirror. There were two of each of these mirrors, as the metal mirrors tarnished easily and were hard to repolish. So, while one set of mirrors were in use in the telescope, the other set of mirrors were being repolished.   It should be noted that modern telescope mirrors are made of glass (or some low expansion equivalent) and then coated with a thin layer of aluminium. A similar technology with glass mirrors and silver coatings was already available when the GMT was built, but the committee supervising the building of the telescope did not want to risk the then new and little-tried technology on such a large mirror.   The surviving GMT mirror, collection of the Museum of Victoria. Photo Nick Lomb.   In Melbourne, the telescope achieved success with two short exposure photographs, one of the Moon and one in 1883 of the Great Nebula in Orion, which was the first photograph of a nebula in the southern sky. Unfortunately, the main observing aims of the telescope were flawed. These were to reobserve and sketch the nebulae that Sir John Herschel had observed from South Africa in the 1830s. However, sketches made by different observers with different telescopes cannot be directly compared and it would not have been possible to ascertain if the nebulae had shown changes in the intervening few decades.   The GMT House at Melbourne Observatory. Photo Nick Lomb   The GMT was rarely used after the 1880s, and in the 1940s sold for scrap to Mount Stromlo Observatory. There, the Observatory used parts of it for a 50-inch (1.3-metre) telescope, which itself went through a number of rebuilds over time. This telescope was destroyed in the Stromlo fire of 18 January 2003. Later, the burnt-out parts of the telescope were brought back to Melbourne. Since then, a team of dedicated volunteers from the Astronomical Society of Victoria, supported by Museum of Victoria staff, have been restoring the telescope. Engineering students have also been assisting with the restoration since 2019.   A future post will discuss Project Phoenix, the restoration of the telescope.   Acknowledgement Simon Brink, Project Manager, Great Melbourne Telescope Restoration, Strategic Capital Programs, Museums Victoria, for corrections.    Further Reading Richard Gillespie, The Great Melbourne Telescope , Museum Victoria 2011.

Perth Observatory 12.5-inch Calver – Perth Observatory Archives The purchase of the Perth Observatory's Calver 12.5-inch* Newtonian reflector, manufactured by George Calver & Co. England, was approved in 1910 by the WA Government with a view for use during Comet Halley [1] , and as the Observatory’s first dedicated visitor telescope; its estimated cost was to be £300. Unfortunately, it did not arrive in Western Australia until July 1911. Its installation was delayed not only by the WA Government Public Works Departments inability to deliver a concrete pad or building in time for Comet Halley, but also mechanical issues with the telescope itself. The problems with the telescope were conveyed to the instrument’s maker, George Calver (1834-1927), through numerous letters that still exist in the Perth Observatory archives [2] . The Government Astronomer, William Ernest Cooke, investigated the issues personally and discovered that the mount had been jolted in transit, affecting the adjustment of the lower bearing of the polar axis. Once resolved, Cooke reported this to Calver who replied on 23 April 1911: “ I am so thankful to get your letter of today, I am indeed pleased to hear it is in full swing and giving satisfaction. ” The telescope was later used in the 1922 Wallal total solar eclipse expedition, which famously provided key evidence supporting Einsteins Theory of Relativity that space was indeed curved; how it survived a beach landing in a long boat, as this was the only way to access the remote coastal site selected, one wonders. In 1975, the Calver was loaned to the Astronomical Society of Western Australia (ASWA), with permission from the Chief Secretary’s Department. In the 1990s, the Observatory requested its return for restoration, and the telescope was brought back in 1996 to mark the Observatory’s Centenary. Today, the Calver remains an active visitor telescope and can still be viewed and used during nighttime tours at the Perth Observatory in Bickley, Western Australia. [1]  Aspects of the History for the Perth Observatory, M.L. Clarke – Historical Note No. 5, Astronomical Society of Victoria, March 1987 p10. [2]  Perth Observatory Archives – File 07/23 – Instruments – Calver 12 ½" Telescope. *32cm

A recording of the 3-hour workshop is available to all via the Astronomical Society of Australia YouTube. Many thanks to those who attended, presented at, and organised the History of Australian Astronomy Chapter of the ASA annual workshop held on Wednesday 19 November 2025, 2pm to 5:15pm AEDT (UTC+11). Members of the ASA Communications Working Group (Vanessa Moss and Glen Rees) and our tech team (Brennan Dew, Dirk Goes and Toner Stevenson) helped us host and record the session in full. The program with abstracts and bios is available here: