The Great Melbourne Telescope during its construction.
Great Melbourne Telescope is going home
28 Nov 2008
A significant part of Australia's astronomical history has begun the long journey home as the famous Great Melbourne Telescope returns to Victoria from Mount Stromlo Observatory, Canberra.
The Great Melbourne Telescope (GMT) has been part of the Mount Stromlo Observatory since 1944, but has now been donated to Museum Victoria to begin restoration. The 50-inch GMT was originally constructed in Ireland in 1868 and was shipped to Melbourne shortly after. Rapidly advancing telescope technology meant the instrument had been all but superseded when it was used for photographing Comet Halley in 1910—its last reported scientific use at Melbourne.
After the Melbourne Observatory was closed in 1944, the GMT was relocated to Mount Stromlo and reconfigured for the new building constructed on site. In the late 1980s and 1990s it was used for the MACHO project—an international effort to search for the dark, unseen matter that makes up most of the mass of the universe. It was still in use and transmitting data when it was badly damaged in the January 2003 bushfires.
'The telescope is an important part of Australia's astronomical history and it has been instrumental in research conducted by the University over the years,' said Professor Harvey Butcher, Director of the ANU Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics and Mount Stromlo Observatory.
The University has now handed over the instrument to Museum Victoria which, in collaboration with the Astronomical Society of Victoria, will begin the long process of restoring the telescope to its 19th Century functionality.
'Museum Victoria has been retrieving parts of the original Great Melbourne Telescope from Mount Stromlo over the years. We are thrilled to now bring the remaining parts of the telescope back to Melbourne and look forward to the rewarding process of restoring one of the most significant telescopes of the 19th Century,' said Dr J Patrick Greene, Chief Executive Officer of Museum Victoria.
Adapted from information issued by ANU / Museum Victoria.
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