Observatory Gate

Observatory Gate. . Studying the Stars of the Southern Sky, observatory (Def): a place or building designed for making observations of astronomical, meteorological or other natural phenomena, "The stars are the landmarks of our universe" , Robert Ellery, Melbourne's First Government Astronomer, 1870, Standing here today, it's hand to imagine just how important these seemingly quaint observatories were to colonial Melbourne. But astronomy was useful knowledge in this most remote English colony, where almost everything arrived by ship. The star-charts and determinations of local time made in this observatory provided the means by which mariners could navigate their way to and from here., In this new country, colonial astronomers mapped the sky just as colonial settlers mapped the land. When this Observatory was built in 1863, astronomers were able to view stars never seen from the Northern Hemisphere, and produce star maps of great value to the observatories of Europe. While Aboriginal astronomers had read these stars for thousands of years, in the settlers this was a fresh unknown sky., Astronomers here were innovators in making their science accessible and useful to the public. They were pioneers in publishing weather forecasts in city newspapers, and transmitting official time by telegraph to a public clock. Specialist observatories gathered here in new recording technologies were adopted by Melbourne's astronomers. They studied the rare transit of Venus, and contributed to the largest international scientific projects of the 19th century, the 'Carte de Ciel'. Astronomers here trained Douglas Mawson's Antarctic Exploration team. And this site was the centre of colonial scientific work related to understanding local weather, planetary magnetism and the geographic charting of Victoria. You can read about some of these projects as you walk about this site., The Melbourne Observatory closed in 1944. For all of who have ever marvelled at the stars of the southern sky, these buildings stand as testament to the history of our fascination and to the scientific achievements of the early colony of Victoria.,