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A Short History of The Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics

Mount Stromlo Observatory is one of the oldest institutions in the Australian Capital Territory. It was established (as the Commonwealth Solar Observatory) in 1924, although astronomical observations had been carried out on the mountain as early as the previous decade (the Oddie telescope was located on Mount Stromlo in 1911 - the dome built to house it was the first Federal building in the newly established Australian Capital Territory). Its original interests lay in solar and atmospheric physics. During World War II, the Observatory served as an optical munitions establishment; and, after the war, it developed new research directions in stellar and galactic astronomy (with a change of name to the Commonwealth Observatory).

After the establishment of The Australian National University, joint staff appointments were made and graduate studies undertaken; the first PhD degree and first DSc degree awarded by the University (other than honorary degrees) were in Astronomy. A formal amalgamation took place in 1957, when Mount Stromlo Observatory left the Commonwealth Department of the Interior and joined the ANU.

In the 1960s there was another change of name with the establishment of our second observatory at Siding Spring, in the Warrumbungle Mountains, to provide a permanent dark site in response to the adverse sky brightness effects of Canberra's growth. We became "Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories". Together, Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories form one of the leading optical astronomical observatories in the world. Their main areas of research interest are in stellar and galactic astrophysics - in particular, the structure and evolution of planets, stars and galaxies, the origin and development of the Universe as a whole, and the physics of the tenuous material between the stars.

The greatest period of telescope acquisition on Mount Stromlo was in the mid-1950s, when no fewer than four major instruments came to the mountain. Since the 1960s, all new telescopes have been located at Siding Spring. Our most recent, a 2.3m reflector, being amongst the most technologically advanced telescopes in the world.

In the 1990's, through the Gemini Partnership Australian astronomers gained access to the 10-metre class telescopes being built around the world. This access has helped to keep RSAA astronomers at the forefront of astronomical research. RSAA has successfully bid for Gemini instrument contracts to construct two instruments for the Gemini telescopes.

The firestorm of 18 January 2003 destroyed all the telescopes, the library and workshops on Mount Stromlo. Accounts of the firestorm and its aftermath can be found here.

In 2004, RSAA is proceeding to replace the lost Workshops with the Advanced Instrumentation and Technology Centre and to replace some of our lost telescope capabilities with the construction of the SkyMapper telescope at Siding Spring Observatory. Plans are well advanced for these new facilities and construction will start in 2005.

The Observatories have a total staff of approximately 80, most of whom work at Mount Stromlo, where the main workshops and support facilities are located. There are about 25 astronomers on the staff, and about 20 post-graduate students undertaking PhD studies.