(SNES) Mount Stromlo Observatory

["Les Coleman" <les11@cox.net>]

Hello Everyone,

After the horrific fire in West Warwick, it was more than a bit of a shock to open the
newest copy of S&T (April 2003  -pages18/19) to find that  most of Austrailia's major
observatory was burned to the ground destroying the six large telescopes including  the
1.9, 1.3 reflectors and 26" refractor. A few buildings housing records and controls
survived more or less intact. A very dry summer outside Canberra allowed a wild fire to
race across Namadgi National Forest destroying not only much of the observatory but 500
homes and causing the loss of four lives. The observatory staff only had 20 minutes to
evacuate when the wind changed and sent pine tree sparks into the buildings setting them on
fire.

I came upon a photograph of Mount Stromlo in happier days and I was struck by how similar
it looks to the grounds of the Naval Observatory west of Flagstaff. Both are surrounded by
a pine tree forest on high but relatively flat ground. Both have similar domes painted
white.

Les Coleman
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