Location: Mount Stromlo Observatory, Australian National University, Cotter Road, Western Creek, ACT
Country: Ngunnawal
LGA: Australian Capital Territory (ACT)
Website: rsaa.anu.edu.au/observatories/telescopes/oddie-refractor
Map: Below
‘The Oddie Telescope was donated to the Commonwealth in 1909, and established at Stromlo in 1911. The Oddie Dome was the first building on Mount Stromlo, and the first Commonwealth building in Canberra … more >>
Built in Dublin by the manufacturer, Grubb, the Oddie telescope was purchased by James Oddie. Oddie was a philanthropist who happened to be fascinated by the skies. He originally purchased the telescope and had it installed in a purpose-built observatory in Ballarat. Oddie would open the observatory to the general public to educate people about the night sky…
Hearing about the future Solar Observatory, Oddie offered the 9 inch Grubb telescope to Dr. Duffield in the hope that ‘it form the nucleas of a solar observatory anywhere in the Commonwealth.’
After traversing overland from Ballarat to Melbourne, then Melbourne to Canberra via Queanbeyan railway station, the Oddie arrived with some damage to its objective lens. Back to Melbourne it went for repairs before finally returning permanently to its home on Mount Stromlo in September 1911. More >>
Stromlo’s Telescopes in Outer Space: Stromlo to the Stars, Canberra Museum and Gallery (CMAG) online exhibition celebrating the 100-year anniversary of Mount Stromlo Observatory … bringing to life the groundbreaking discoveries and hidden history of this remarkable institution.
The Oddie was destroyed in the catastrophic fires of 2003.
Oddie Telescope at Outer Space: Stromlo to the Stars online exhibition, Canberra Museum & Gallery >>
Telescopes at Mount Stromlo >>
For more on European astronomy in Australia, see Graham, A. W., Kenyon, K. H., Bull, L. J., Lokuge Don, V. C., & Kuhlmann, K. (2021). History of Astronomy in Australia: Big-Impact Astronomy from World War II until the Lunar Landing (1945–1969). Galaxies, 9(2), 24.
More on the Mount Stromlo telescopes >>
Oddie Telescope Erected at Melbourne Observatory, circa 1911
Also see Ballarat Observatory: https://ballaratobservatory.org.au/observatory-history/
Former James Oddie Telescope, Ballarat http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/search/nattrust_result_detail/67539
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Post published 11 February 2025. Last updated 5 March 2025.
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