Eyes to the stars lost in fire

By Jane Searle January 2003
Images by Matthew Colless

The devastation of Mount Stromlo Observatory in Canberra's bushfires is a blow to astronomy worldwide. While plans are already underway to rebuild, scientists say much of the research and equipment ruined is irreplaceable.

Vince Ford, scientist and outreach officer at Stromlo said that "centuries worth of research work'' had been lost, with estimates putting damage between $20 and $40 million.

Flames destroyed five telescopes, eight staff houses, the equipment workshop, design offices, the Red Belly Black Cafe and an administration building built in 1924. Just two office buildings and the Visitors Centre were spared.

"I'm all shook up. I've been working there 38 years and I feel the guts have been ripped out of me'', Mr Ford said.

"The Observatory is part of Canberra's history. It’s where the first scientific instrument of any sort was built in Canberra, and the old Commonwealth Solar Observatory was the first scientific establishment here in 1924''.

International projects have suffered severe setbacks, with a near-completed telescope ruined.

"We'd been building an instrument for the Gemini project - the Northern Gemini telescope for Hawaii, which had been a three year project'', Professor John Norris of the ANU School of Astronomy and Astrophysics said.

""We had to deliver it in the first half of this year and it was almost finished.'' Valued at four to five million dollars, the Northern Gemini was one of just two 8.1 metre telescopes in the world.

For some students, years of research have been lost to the flames.

"Some (students) have had a whole 4 years wiped out - people who had their information stored on certain databases have lost the lot”, Mr Ford said.

“Part of our job is to train the next generation of astronomers, and at any one time we had at least 20 students up there. Our graduates were well regarded worldwide and Stromlo was the centre of research and training''.

Telescopes ruined in the inferno include the 74-inch, 50-inch, 30-inch, the Yale-Columbia and the historic "Oddie''.

Both Mr Ford and Professor Norris are especially upset over destruction of the 50-inch telescope.

"We'd just found another planet with it, about the size of Pluto. Now the whole daabase is gone'', Mr Ford said.

"In its time the 50-inch was the biggest fully steerable telescope in the world''.

First built in 1868, the instrument had been rebuilt three times - "but just like your grandad, no matter how many upgrades it's had, it's still the same one'', Mr Ford said.

"We were using the 50-inch to look for smaller solar bodies beyond Pluto - stars exploding out on the edge of the universe. The 50-inch had helped us with some of the basic problems in astronomy.''

The 74-inch telescope was described by Mr Ford as "the best in terms of getting detail''. "We'd found two planets far beyond our solar system with the 74-inch. We'd been using it to identify and understand the mystery of black holes'', he said.

"Stromlo is involved in the very biggest questions - trying to sort out the structure of the universe and the Big Bang.''

The 30-inch telescope played a special role in combining professional and amateur work on site.

"Amateurs using the 30-inch helped make it certain that the universe would keep expanding, and it was used in monitoring supernovas (exploding stars). We also used it to find a new planet orbiting a distant star'', Mr Ford said.

Another piece of lost history was the special "Oddie'' telescope - the first piece of scientific equipment put on Mount Stromlo in 1910 to assess the site's suitability.

In recent years, the 9-inch refracting Oddie has been used to train local school children. Throughout its history, Stromlo Observatory made invaluable contributions to science – such as discovery of the oldest known star.

"Just after World War II, a Stromlo project doubled the size of the universe - we found it was twice as big as previously thought'', Mr Ford said.

"In the 1980's we found evidence that the Milky Way galaxy is a cannibal and swallows up other galaxies.''

The Observatory was an inspiration for budding scientists, and Mr Ford said he had taken great pleasure from bringing school groups through the facilities.

"Each year 30 000 people go through our Visitors Centre. It's vital in getting school kids interested in the possibility of being scientists, even if they didn't want to be astronomers'', he said.

The planning process to rebuild is expected to take several months, and despite debates over site safety, the Observatory is unlikely to be resituated. The ANU has already received a flood of support from around the world.

“The range of people offering help to the ANU is humbling - ranging from international scientists offering technical assistance and support for our Astronomy and Astrophysics programs, to individuals donating money to re-develop Stromlo and help students", said ANU Vice Chancellor, Professor Ian Chubb.

“Once the human crisis is past, we will commence more detailed planning for building at Mount Stromlo."

For more information visit:
http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/colless/StromloFire/