The Extraordinary Story of
The Great Melbourne Telescope
In the 1850's, The Royal Society of England were eager to conduct observations of nebulae in the southern hemisphere. Due to the enthusiasm of various individuals, the Victorian government pledged £5000 for the purchase of a 4 foot diameter telescope. Taking the average adult annual wage for this time as £100 (both sexes), this is equivalent to 50 X $35,000 = AUS$1.75 million today. From 1868 until 1908, the Great Melbourne Telescope was the largest steerable, reflecting telescope in the world.
Unfortunately the choice of material for constructing the mirror of the telescope was not state of the art. At the time the French were constructing mirrors made from highly reflective silver-coated glass. They were also pioneering sophisticated optical tests for determining the quality of the lens. The English however, decided that the 4-foot mirror should be cast from speculum metal, following the methods of Sir William Herschel and his contemporaries, half a century earlier.
The relatively poor images produced by the speculum spoiled the reputation of the reflecting telescope. Development in reflecting telescopes was slowed for some years while investment was directed toward the more classical form of the refracting telescope.
If you have any queries or additional information about The Great Melbourne Telescope, please send an email to bgreig@telstra.easymail.com.au or Press here to mail Brian NOW!!!
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Original Text Copyright © 1998 Brian Greig & Richard Lynton.
All Rights Reserved.
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