Hi Jason the only parts that were salvageable were the parts that belonged to the greats Melbourne telescope which is being restored and will be housed at it's original venue. The last I heard the whole idea of restoring it was so that it could be used. The ASV which has some essential original parts and is providing a lot of the volunteer work and really was the driving force behind the project was very keen that the telescope be used. All the photos that I saw and the reports from the team leader at the time showed that there was very little left after the fires. He brought some pieces of the mirror from the Canberra observatory and the mirror had melted into small pieces. That's how hot the fire was.
I remember visiting the Canberra Planetarium and Observatory in the mid 90's and viewing through the 16" Cassegrain and 6" or 7" Astrophysics refractor. There were some other Schmidt Cassegrains there as well, I think and it would be nice to know that the scopes had found a new home.
Memory's a bit hazy but I think there was some talk on these forums a few years ago about the scopes being put in storage or finding a new home. If anyone out there has more info could you please illuminate the curious members on IIS here.
I did have images from inside the Canberra observatory from their old website, from many years ago but cannot find them now. I recall that the website stated that the 7" Astro Physics was donated thu the japanese consulate. ( I have an Astro Physics 180EDT f 9 and out of interest searched years ago to see if there were any others in Australia )
However I did find this thru google, copy/pasted from the Wodenvalley business directory just now :
Canberra Space Dome and Observatory
A virtual reality star theatre, the Canberra Space Dome offers multimedia shows featuring magnificent star fields, video projection and awesome digital sound. The 11 metre Planetarium seats upto 70 people in relaxed comfort.
The telescopes of the Canberra Observatory arew world class and include a 41cm Newtonian - Cassegrain IK6 with 17.5cm Astro-Physics Starfire refractor (in 5.2m dome), an Astro-Physics 15cm f/12 refractor (in 2m dome) and a Celestron C14 (in a 4.2m dome).
A unique astronomy complex is annexed to the Downer Club in suburban Dickson 4km from Canberra City Centre.
I am puzzled why the aperture is stated as 17.5cm. As far as I know, Astro physics made 178mm Starfires from 1988 to 1991 and then offered 180mm EDT Starfires from 1992 to 1998. The label on the dewshield would show "Astro Physics 180 EDT" for the series 1992 to 1998. I do not know the version held by the Canberra Observatory.
I am pretty sure the AP was a 7" starfire of the older design. I understand the well known double star observer Ross Gould used it extensively. Not sure if Ross subscribes to this forum. They also had a 14" SCT for public viewing when I went there in 1992.
My question is; Did the Downer club also have a fire??
Yes, the whole place burned down in September 2010. I was staying at the motel next door and was woken early in the morning and had to evacuate to the park across the road.
