Mount Stromlo Observatory

Mount Stromlo has been an astronomical site since 1911 and became the Commonwealth Solar Observatory in the 1920s, growing into Australia's leading optical astronomy centre. In January 2003 a firestorm swept over the mountain and destroyed five telescopes, the workshops and the director's residence in a matter of hours. The Australian National University rebuilt the site as a research and instrumentation centre, and the burnt shells of the great dome and other buildings have been left standing as a memorial, with interpretive signage. The visitor area has a café with views over Canberra, occasional public astronomy nights are run, and the surrounding hill is a mountain bike park with graded trails.

History

Pietro Baracchi set up a small observatory on the mountain in 1911 with the Oddie telescope, whose dome was the first Commonwealth building in the new Australian Capital Territory, and in 1924 the Commonwealth Solar Observatory was established here. Until the Second World War it studied the sun and the atmosphere, during the war its workshops made gun sights and other optics, and afterwards it turned to stellar and galactic astronomy as the Commonwealth Observatory; in 2003 bushfire wrecked Australia's oldest telescope and several others (Wikipedia, Mount Stromlo Observatory).

The main sights

• The fire ruins - the burnt shells of telescope domes left as a memorial.
• The rebuilt centre - the instrumentation and research buildings on the hill.
• The Canberra view - the city and ranges seen from the summit.
• The bike park - graded mountain bike trails on the slopes below.

When to go

Year-round for the grounds and café; public astronomy nights run occasionally and must be booked. Winter nights are cold but clear. The hill is exposed and windy in any season.

What to expect

The working telescopes are not open to the public and there is no permanent visitor centre; the grounds, ruins and café are the visit. Public night sessions are infrequent and sell out. The site is a short drive from the city with no public transport.

Nearby

The National Arboretum lies east; the Cotter Reserve is further west.

Key facts