Astrograph House

Astrograph House. . An Atlas of 40 Million Stars, Star (def): heavenly bodies appearing as apparently fixed luminous points in the sky at night., "Australasia's greatest contribution to astronomical knowledge is now in progress...the great international undertaking for making a complete survey of the heavens, by means of photography" , The Argus, January 10, 1900, This telescope-house can be thought of as elaborate camera built to photograph the stars. In 1887, developments in celestial photography were revolutionising astronomy and Melbourne Observatory joined with 17 other international observatories to begin a visionary project: the Carte de Ciel, or 'map of the sky'. Its purpose? To create a photographic atlas of the night sky - an estimated 40 million stars., With scientific attention shifting towards defining the size of the universe, astronomy had become something more than the practical navigational science of the 18th century. Analysing the intensities of points of light on the photographic plates, astronomers sought to estimate the distance of stars from the Earth. Wide night skies were beginning to be understood in terms of their depth., Colonial scientists were not the only people here to study the Southern sky. Aboriginal communities already knew the same stars and had their own interpretations and uses., "The the aborigines knowledge of the 'crowded' southern sky was probably the most comprehensive possible for people dependent on the naked eye. They made accurate observations... even more inconspicuous fourth-magnitude stars... and devised a complex season calendar. , Explorers of the Southern Sky : A history of Australian Astronomy, Cambridge University Press, 1996, In contrast to the oral tradition of Aboriginal astronomy, European astronomy demanded meticulous recording and analysis. Melbourne and Sydney Observatories were in the process of photographing and defining the position of one and a half million stars. For the detailed, tedious work of measurement and collation teams of young women were employed, calculating side-by-side in the Main Observatory. And a new name was invented. They were our first 'computers'., "In answer to your application as a computer at this observatory... Your salary would be 75 (pounds) per annum. Hours of work from 9 to 5 with one hour for lunch. Saturdays from 9-12" , Joseph Baldwin, Third Government Astronomer, Writing to C. Reed, November 1 1898, Melbourne's contribution to the complete atlas of the stars was expected to take only a few years. But, some 55 years after its inception, the 'map of the sky' above Melbourne remained unfinished when this Observatory closed in 1944.