Sydney Observatory (1858 - )

Summary

Sydney Observatory began as a time-ball tower in the mid-nineteenth century. It was soon expanded and became a full observatory. The Observatory was converted in 1982 and now operates as a museum, focusing on astronomy and its history. Sydney Observatory, along with the Powerhouse Museum, is managed by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences. The first observatory in Sydney was established by William Dawes in 1788 but had disappeared from records by 1796.

Related entries

Published resources

Books

• Doyle, Gillian E., Reverend William Scott, M.A.: first Government Astronomer and Director of Sydney Observatory (Pymble, N.S.W.: Gillian Doyle, 2008), 160 pp. Details
• Kerr, James Semple, Sydney Observatory: a Conservation Plan for the Site and its Structures (Sydney: Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, 2002), 84 pp. Details
• Lomb, N., and Pickett, C., Observer & observed: a pictorial history of Sydney Observatory and Observatory Hill (Haymarket, N.S.W.: Powerhouse Publishing, 2001), 96 pp. Details
• Nangle, James, The Sydney Observatory: its history and work (Sydney: Sydney Technical College, 1930), 22 pp. Details
• Russell, H. C., The Sydney Observatory: history and progress (Sydney: Thomas Richards, Govt. Printer, 1882). Details
• Russell, Roslyn, Two People and a Place: the Family Who Lived in Sydney Observatory (Sydney: Roslyn Russell Museum Services, 2008), 219 pp. Details
• Wood, H. W., Sydney Observatory, 1858 to 1958 (Sydney: 1958). Details
• Wood, Harley, Sydney Observatory 1958 to 1981 (Sydney: Government Printer, 1982), 14 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Lomb, Nick, 'Closing encounters: the efforts of the NSW Branch of the British Astronomical Association to save Sydney Observatory' in Essays on astronomical history and heritage: a tribute to Wayne Orchiston on his 80th birthday, Gullberg, Steven and Robertson, Peter, eds (Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2023), pp. 557-82, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29493-8_28. Details

Journal Articles

• Bhathal, Ragbir, '150 Years of Sydney Observatory', Astronomy & Geophysics, 50 (3) (2009), 26-30. Details
• de Grijs, Richard; Jacob, Andrew P., 'Sydney's Scientific Beginnings: William Dawes' Observatories in Context', arXiv:2101.08974 [physics.hist-ph] (2021), https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2101.08974. Details
• Nightingale, H. C., 'Centenary of Sydney Observatory', The Australian Surveyor (1958), 95-101. Details
• Orchiston, W., 'From Research to Recreation: the Rise and Fall of Sydney Observatory', Vistas in Astronomy, 32 (1988), 49-63. Details
• Orchiston, Wayne, 'Sydney Observatory - Past, Present and Future', British Astronomical Association, New South Wales Branch Bulletin, 609 (Suppl (1982). Details
• Orchiston, Wayne, 'Illuminating Incidents in Antipodean Astronomy: Phillip Parker King and the Founding of Sydney Observatory', Vistas in Astronomy, 32 (1988), 285-301. Details
• Orchiston, Wayne, 'Mission Impossible: William Scott and the First Sydney Observatory Directorship', Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 1 (1) (1998), 21-43. Details
• Tasker, Ian, 'Power, politics and personalities in Australian astronomy: William Ernest Cooke and the triangulation of the Pacific by wireless signals', Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 22 (1) (2019), 113-21. http://www.narit.or.th/en/files/2019JAHHvol22/2019JAHH...22..113T.pdf. Details
• Wood, H., 'Sydney Observatory 1858-1983', Proceedings of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 5 (2) (1983), 273-281. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1323358000017094. Details
• Wood, H. W., 'Sydney Observatory. its History and Work', Australian Journal of Science, 1 (1939), 189-193. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7660067. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/139199350. Details
• Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-501283. Details
• Naughton, Russell, Lawrence Hargrave (1850-1915): Australian aviation pioneer, inventor, explorer, mason and astronomer., Monash University, 1999. https://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/hargrave.html. Details

Reviews

• Russell, Rosslyn, Two people and a place: the family who lived in Sydney Observatory (2008)
  Gillespie, Richard, Historical Records of Australian Science, 19 (2), (2008), 223-5, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR08008. Details

Theses

• Stevenson, T., 'Measuring the stars and observing the less visible: Australia's participation in the Astrographic Catalogue and Carte du Ciel', Thesis, University of Sydney, 2015, 381 pp. Details

See also

• Andropoulos, Jenny Ioanna, 'Astronomical observations of Melbourne Observatory', PhD thesis, James Cook University, 2014, 677 & 144 pp. Details
• Federation and Meteorology, 2001, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/fam/. Details
• de Grijs, Richard; and Jacob, Andrew, William Dawes: scientist governor, abolitionist: caught between science and religion (Cham, Switzeland: Springer, 2023), 272 pp, https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-38774-6. Details
• Orchiston, Wayne; Clark, Barry A. J.; Frew, David; and Andropoulos, Jenny, 'The development of astronomy and the foundation of astrophysics in Australia' in The emergence of astrophysics in Asia: opening a new window on the Universe, Nakamura, T.; and Orchiston, W., eds (Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2017), pp. 395-452. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-319-62082-4_17.pdf. Details