The Oddie building and telescope was the first permanent Commonwealth building and scientific instrument in the ACT.
The Oddie was occasionally used by astronomers from Melbourne Observatory until the Commonwealth Solar Observatory officially came into being on 1 January 1924. The first stellar research program of the observatory began in 1926, to photograph and classify spectra of southern stars. A star's spectrum indicates its temperature, age, size and chemical composition.
During the 1940s the Oddie was used to measure the orbits of binary stars, a vital step in determining the mass of stars in binary systems. The mass of a star determines its life cycle, so these measurements were very important in the emerging theories of stellar evolution. The last research program took place in the early 1970s when one of the first image-tube cameras was used in a search for supernova remnants in the Milky Way.
From the mid 1970s the Oddie was the prime public outreach telescope of the observatory, introducing thousands of people to the Universe. Local amateur astronomers also used it for a wide range of projects.
The telescope was restored to almost original condition in the early 1990s, thanks to an ACT Government heritage grant.
The Oddie was damaged beyond repair in the firestorm of 18 January 2003.
-
Construction
- Built: Thomas Grubb of Dublin, 1888
- Erected on Mt. Stromlo: 1911
- Damaged beyond repair in firestorm: 18 January 2003
- Lens: 9" diameter doublet, corrected for visual observation
- Focal ratio: f/15
- Mount: German equatorial
- Drive: Clockwork
-
Instruments
- Zeiss photographic plate camera
- Prism spectrograph
- Filar micrometer
- Photoelectric photometer
- Image tube camera
-
Some Reasearch Programs
- Spectral classification of southern stars
- Parameters of southern binary stars
- Photometry of southern stars
- Emission nebulae in the Magellanic Clouds
- Search for supernova remnants in the Milky Way
