Category of Astronomical Heritage: tangible immovable
Perth Observatory, Australia

Description

Geographical position

Old Perth Observatory (1896) in West Perth on Mount Eliza, Australia (Code 319).

The Perth Observatory was moved to Bickley near Mount Gungin in the Darling Range in 1965.
New Perth Observatory (Code 322, 323) 337 Walnut Rd Bickley, Kalamunda WA 6076, 35 km East of Perth in Bickley.

Location

Latitude 32°00’28’’ S, Longitude 116°08’09’’ E, Elevation ...m above mean sea level.

IAU observatory code

323

Description of (scientific/cultural/natural) heritage

Perth Observatory on Mount Eliza (1896)

Fig. 1. Old Perth Observatory on Mount Eliza (Wikipedia 3, Nachoman-au)

The Perth Observatory on Mount Eliza is the oldest in West Australia, founded in 1896, and opened in 1900. "The residence for the Government Astronomer was designed by architect George Temple Poole in 1896, while the dome building to contain the telescope was designed by Sir Howard Grubb the following year."
In 1965, due to air pollution, the observatory was moved to the New Perth Observatory in Bickley. The old observatory dome was demolished in the 1960s.

The first activities of William Ernest Cooke (1863--1947), director from 1896 to 1912, were time service (Standard Time for Western Australia), tides, meteorology, and support to surveying. A time ball was dropped at 1 p.m. daily at the Round House at Fremantle and in Hay Street, Perth, and in addition a time gun (1902) was fired at 1 p.m. at Perth and Fremantle. Time signals from two clocks were sent out by telegraph, also for the railway network.

Perth Observatory was involved in the international project, started in Paris in 1887, first the Astrographic Catalogue (AC), constructing a catalogue of the position of millions of stars, the second, and second the Carte du Ciel (CdC), translating the AC to charts of these catalogues with the result of a "Map of the Sky". The Declination zone (-32° to -40°) was assigned to Rio de Janeiro Observatory, but because the work at Rio had not progressed until 1900, the task was assigned to the Perth Observatory.

The observing/photographing was done from 1900 to 1920, but because of many problems with the amount of material, the work continued until the early 1970s for publication; the AC was completed, the CdC was never completed. "Due to financial issues, 6 volumes were published by 1916, the remainder between 1948 and 1952 with assistance in measuring by Royal Edinburgh Observatory." (Craig Bowers, 2019). The photographic glass plates that are stored today at the Perth Observatory.

In 1901, Perth also participated in the international star cataloguing and charting project, the "Cape Photographic Durchmusterung" (CPD). A Catalogue of 420 Standard Stars was published by the Perth Observatory in 1907.

New Perth Observatory in Bickley near Mount Gungin (1965)

Fig. 2. Digitization in 1960 in Bergedorf, located in the Sonnenbau, lower floor.
Left: Spectra of stars were photographed and then measured with a scanner. The measurements came hitherto as a curve on paper, but now also as numbers on punched cards.
Right: The diameter of the round stellar image was measured with the "Irisphotometer" and the number was punched.
(Wilhelm Dieckvoss, Archive of Hamburg Observatory)

Main research topics of the new Perth Observatory in Bickley are again compilation of the largest southern star catalogues like the Perth catalogues (1976 to 1983), the photographic astrometry on minor planets and comets, and the participation in a worldwide observing program on solar system planets.

Fig. 3. Computer room of Perth Observatory 1971 for compiling the Perth Catalogues.
GIER in the brown cupboard was one of the first transistorized computers. Mrs Ilse Holst at the reader for 8-channel punched tape, one role could contain 0.00012 Gbytes. The tape from reader or punch poured into a large basket and could then be
quickly rolled up. (Bernd Loibl)

Especially interesting are the Perth catalogues, like the Perth 70 catalogue (1976), Perth 75 catalogue (1982), Perth 83 catalogue (1983), based on the Hamburg meridian circle, working in Perth since 1967. Erik Hoeg introduced the photon-counting astrometry as the basic measuring technique in Hipparcos, a technique invented by the author in 1960 in Hamburg. This technique was implemented on the Repsold meridian circle for the Hamburg expedition to Perth where he worked during 1967 to 1972.

History

Fig. 6. The Hamburg meridian circle, made by Repsold (1909), ready for the Perth expedition in 1966. (Wilhelm Dieckvoss, Archive of Hamburg Observatory)

Small transit telescope (1897)
Chronometer
Two standard German precision clocks were installed
to track sidereal time and solar mean time (1898)
Perth-Lowell Telescope
Standard Astrographic telescope, Sir Howard Grubb of Dublin (1897/99),
in the 1960s relocated to Bickley in the Darling Range
Micrometer
Zeiss plate measuring machine
Hamburg Observatory meridian circle telescope expedition for the Perth 70 catalogue
61-cm-Reflector in Bickley (1965)

Western Australia (WA) Government Astronomers and Directors

Fig. 4a,b. Above: William Ernest Cooke (1863--1947);
Below: Observatory staff, c.1900. The first Government Astronomer, W. Ernest Cooke is seated at the left. His successor Harold Curlewis, is standing in the light coloured suit. (Wikipedia)

William Ernest Cooke (1863--1947), 1896 to 1912

Cooke was before in Adelaide Observatory. He visited Paris, Nice, Strasbourg and Brussels, as well as visiting Her Majesty’s Astronomer at the Cape of Good Hope in order to be informed about the best instruments. In 1912 he left for Sydney.
Harold Burnham Curlewis (1875--1968), 1912/1920 to 1940
Hyman Solomon Spigl (1911--1962), 1940 and 1962
John Bertrand Harris (1925--1975), (1957)/1962 to 1974

He was responsible for the transfer of the Perth Observatory from Mt. Eliza to Bickley during the 1960s. In 1967, Harris oversaw the installation of a meridian circle telescope at the Perth Observatory as part of the expedition by German astronomers from Hamburg Observatory.

Fig. 5. Members of the Perth Observatory staff in December 1969. From left: Miss I. Wardrop, Mrs H. von der Heide, Mr J. Pratt, Mr J. von der Heide, Mr L. Cloud, Mrs K. Pratt, Mr D. Gans, Mr R. Hutchins, Mr M. Candy, H. Sharpe, Mr D. Harwood, Mr. D. Griffiths, S. Constantine, Mr J. Harris (Photo: Erik Høg)

Dr Ivan [Iwan] Nikoloff (1921--2015), (1964)/1974 to 1985

Born in Bulgaria, he worked in Mount Stromlo Observatory, Indonesia, and Vienna. He helped to organize the relocation of the Perth Observatory from Perth to Bickley (1965). He was in charge of the Perth Observatory Meridian Section with the loan of the Hamburg Meridian Circle (1971) - Perth 70 - A Catalogue of Positions of 24,900 Stars (1976), Perth 75 catalogue of 2549 stars (1982) - important for the construction of the new FK5 reference frame, Perth 83 catalogue (Harwood, D., 1983).
Michael Philip Candy (1928--1994), (1969)/1984 to 1993
James D. Biggs, 1994 to 2010
Ralph Martin, 2013 until today

State of preservation

The Old Perth Observatory at Mount Eliza is used by the National Trust. The house of the chief astronomer of the old observatory remained today. The astrographic dome of the old Perth Observatory was demolished in 1964.

Fig. 7. The dome for the 61-cm-Reflector of Perth Observatory in Bickley

New Perth Observatory in Bickley (1965): In recognition of its scientific, cultural and historical significance, the Observatory was entered on the state’s Heritage Register in 2005: Western Australia Heritage Register: State Registered Place, 19 July 2005, Reference no. 10551, being Australia’s oldest continuing operating observatory.

Comparison with related/similar sites

Old Perth Observatory has a similarity to Sydney Observatory with the main building and a tower, in addition, a separate dome.

Threats or potential threats

no threats

Present use

The Old Perth Observatory at Mount Eliza is now home to the WA branch of the National Trust.

Astronomical relevance today

In 1965, the observatory was moved due to light pollution to Bickley, 337 Walnut Rd Bickley, Kalamunda WA 6076 (32°00’28’’S 116°08’09’’E),
35 km East of Perth in Bickley (new Perth Observatory: Code 322, 323) - 61cm reflector.
The Florian asteroid 3953 Perth was named in honor of the observatory.

References

Bibliography (books and published articles)

Fig. 6. Craig Bowers, Gudrun Wolfschmidt and Erik Hoeg in Hamburg in 2012. (Photo: Craig Bowers)

Bowers, Craig Lambert: The Scientific History of the Perth Observatory from 1960 to 1993. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2016, p. 276.
Curlewis, H.B.: Astrographic Catalogue 1900°0, Perth Section, DEC. -31° to -41°. From Photographs Taken and Measured at the Perth Observatory, Vol. V, VI, VII, VIII. Fred. WM. Simpson 1920,1921.
Harris, Bertrand John (1925-1974). In: Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/harris-bertrand-john-10433
Hendrie, Michael J.: Obituary - Candy, Michael-Philip - 1928-1994. In: Journal of the British Astronomical Association 105 (1995), No. 2, p. 56.
Hoeg, Erik: Astrometry 1960-1980: from Hamburg to Hipparcos. In: Wolfschmidt, Gudrun (ed.): Kometen, Sterne, Galaxien -- Astronomie in der Hamburger Sternwarte. Comets, Stars, Galaxies -- Astronomy in Hamburg Observatory. Dedicated to the 100th Anniversary of Hamburg Observatory in Bergedorf 2012. Hamburg: tredition (Nuncius Hamburgensis; Vol. 24) 2014, p. 84-153.
Perth 70: Positions of 24900 Stars (Hoeg et al., 1976) (Perth70, Perth)
Perth 75 Catalogue (Nikoloff et al., 1982) (Perth75, Perth)
Perth 83 (Harwood, D.N., 1990) (Perth83, Perth).
Schmadel, Lutz D.: (3953) Perth. In: Dictionary of Minor Planet Names - (3953) Perth. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer 2007, p. 337.
Stevenson, Toner: Making Visible the First Women in Astronomy in Australia: The Measurers and Computers Employed for the Astrographic Catalogue. In: Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia 31 (2014), e018 (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/pasa.2014.12).
Western Australian astronomy almanac. Bickley: W.A. Perth Observatory (2007 edition).