Gate Lodge

Gate Lodge. . Daily and Nightly Life at Melbourne Observatory, nocturnal (def): active by night, as many animals, "It is a very popular belief that practical astronomy consists of star-gazing. Looking at the moon or searching for some unknown stars, planets or comets...but long, weary hours of monotonous watching and recording at night, with the long, dreary calculations of to-morrow looming ahead, soon strip the delightful romance from the calling of the practical astronomer" , Robert Ellery, Melbourne's First Government Astronomer, 1870, Working life at the Observatory was mainly a nocturnal existence. On almost every clear night for 35 years, caretaker James Mannix rose for work, to assist with observations through the various telescopes., Certainly, many Observatory duties were done by day: readings calculated, equipment maintained, time signals sent, chronometers set, weather and tide charts compiled, earthquakes and meteors recorded. But night woke the Observatory to its primary purpose. Roofs of domes and transit rooms would slide open and, if the skies were clear, observations made all night. Clear skies for viewing were precious: in 1876, only 110 nights were suitable for astronomical observations., "Attended at 11.30 pm to assist Mr Ellery in Photographing the Moon, but atmosphere too hazy to permit of doing any work" , From the diary of Joseph Turner, Great Melbourne Telescope Observer, 1873, For the first 40 years of this Observatory, home for the caretaker was a room in the main building living among the instruments. Only in 1902 was this house contracted for James Mannix and his young family, as some compensation for their strange nightly existence. In this centre of scientific study, daily life bustled around. Cows, bees, hens, an orchard and a vegetable garden were all kept here., This little community may have appeared strange to outsiders. The telescope mechanics combed the grounds for spider webs, testing which provided the best silk for the fine cross-hairs of the telescope eye-pieces. And, to produce better photographs of the moon, observers lashed ladders inside the Great Melbourne Telescope, climbing to balance precariously and adjust the focus., "The stars are the landmarks of our universe", wrote Robert Ellery in 1870. In the miniature universe of the Observatory dwellers, their daily and nightly lives were most certainly ruled by the stars