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Melbourne
Observatory
was
founded
in
1862
to
serve
as
a
scientific
research
institution
for
the
rapidly
growing
city
of
Melbourne,
the
capital
of
the
colony
of
Victoria.
The
observatory
was
tasked
by
the
Victorian
government
with
maintaining
an
accurate
time
reference
for
the
colony
through
observations
of
stars
using
a
transit
telescope
as
well
as
general
astronomical
research.
The
idea
for
a
Melbourne
Observatory
was
first
proposed
by
English
astronomer
William
Parkinson
Wilson
in
a
paper
read
before
The
Philosophical
Institute
of
Victoria
in
1856;
and
soon
after
a
committee
was
formed
to
"achieve
Wilson's
'noble
object'".The
site
chosen
was
a
gentle
hill
adjacent
to
the
Royal
Botanic
Gardens.
Shortly
after
founding
a
48-inch
(120
cm)
telescope
was
installed
at
the
observatory
for
astronomical
research
and
for
a
while
it
was
the
largest
fully
steerable
telescope
in
the
world.
This
instrument
was
referred
to
as
the
"Great
Melbourne
Telescope".
In
1874
the
observatory
took
part
in
the
worldwide
effort
to
observe
the
Transit
of
Venus
in
order
to
better
determine
the
distance
of
Earth
to
the
Sun.
Towards
the
end
of
the
1880s
the
observatory
took
part
in
the
international
"Carte
du
Ciel"
project
to
map
the
heavens
using
the,
then
novel,
technique
of
photography.
Being
the
most
southerly
of
the
sites
taking
part,
Melbourne
was
assigned
the
region
around
the
south
celestial
pole
south
of
declination
-65°.
With
the
coming
of
federation
in
1901
the
Commonwealth
government
was
assigned
the
responsibility
for
astronomy
and
time-keeping
and
control
of
the
observatory
was
gradually
handed
over
by
the
state
government.
At
the
same
time,
the
encroaching
light
pollution
from
the
growing
city
of
Melbourne
gradually
made
quality
astronomical
observations
increasingly
difficult.
Then,
in
1933
the
flood-lit
Shrine
of
Remembrance
was
completed
in
the
parkland
adjacent
to
the
observatory
impacting
its
skies
further,
until
the
observatory
was
finally
closed
in
1945.
Most
of
the
scientific
equipment
and
instruments,
including
the
Great
Melbourne
Telescope,
were
sold
or
moved
elsewhere.
Today,
while
most
of
the
original
buildings
still
stand
on
the
site,
only
two
of
the
original
instruments
remain.
Both
were
installed
in
1874
to
observe
the
transit
of
Venus.
One
is
an
8-inch
(20
cm)
refracting
telescope
by
Troughton
and
Simms
of
London,
and
the
other
is
a
fully
restored
4-inch
(10
cm)
Photoheliograph
by
Dallmeyer
of
London.
The
Photoheliograph
is
privately
owned
and
on
indefinite
loan
to
the
Astronomical
Society
of
Victoria.
The
building
which
was
used
by
the
13-inch
(330
mm)
astrograph
telescope
for
the
"Carte
du
Ciel"
survey
now
houses
a
12-inch
(300
mm)
Newtonian
reflector
telescope
owned
by
the
Astronomical
Society
of
Victoria.
The
Great
Melbourne
Telescope
was
eventually
moved
to
the
Mount
Stromlo
Observatory
where
it
was
badly
damaged
in
the
2003
Canberra
bushfires,
and
a
project
is
underway
to
restore
the
telescope
to
working
order
so
that
it
may
be
used
for
educational
and
public
viewing
in
its
original
home
at
the
Melbourne
Observatory.
This
is
a
joint
undertaking
of
Museum
Victoria,
the
Astronomical
Society
of
Victoria
and
the
Royal
Botanic
Gardens.
The
restoration
project
will
incorporate
bringing
the
telescope's
optical,
mechanical
and
electrical
systems
into
line
with
current
best
practice.
After
more
than
five
years
weighing
up
different
proposals,
engineering
work
commenced
in
late
2013
thanks
to
a
$70,000
grant
from
the
Copland
Foundation.
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