Mount Stromlo Observatory

Mount Stromlo Observatory, astronomical observatory located on Mt. Stromlo, near Canberra, Australia. Established in 1924 (14 years after the first telescope was erected there), it has been operated by the Australian National Univ. since 1957. A wildfire destroyed the observatory in 2003, but the university will rebuild it. The principal instrument was a 74-in. (188-cm) reflecting telescope, controlled by computer and having a battery of auxiliary equipment. Other instruments included 50-in. (127-cm) and 30-in. (76-cm) reflectors, and a 26-in. (66-cm) refractor.

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Mount Stromlo Observatory 

a scientific institution of the Australian National University. Located 11 km from Canberra, at an elevation of 750 m, it also has an observation station at Siding Spring (New South Wales), 500 km away. Its first instrument, a 23-cm refractor, was installed in 1925. The most important instruments are the 40-cm, 75-cm, 102-cm, 127-cm, and 188-cm reflectors; a 66-cm refractor; a 13.5-cm solar tower telescope; and a 50-cm Schmidt camera (owned jointly with Sweden). The observatory is primarily involved in electrophotometric, spectrophotometric, and polarimetric studies of the galaxies, stars, and nebulae, as well as in the study of the structure of the Milky Way Galaxy, the observation of the sun and planets, and time and latitude services.