The Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories are part of the
Australian National University. They operate facilities both at Mount
Stromlo (near Canberra) and at Siding Spring (near Coonabarabran,
New South Wales). These pictures show MSSSO facilities at the
Siding Spring site.
The building of the 2.3-metre telescope of the Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories, at Siding Spring, New South Wales, Australia. The entire building rotates during observing - including the control room - to keep the building's aperture in front of the telescope.
Digital image by Bryn Jones, December 2001.
The building of the 2.3-metre telescope with the dome of Anglo-Australian Telescope in the background.
Digital image by Bryn Jones, March 2002.
The building of the 2.3-metre telescope at sunset. The telescope can be seen inside the building. The observers were preparing for work when this was taken.
Digital image by Bryn Jones, March 2002.
Another picture of the building of the 2.3-metre telescope at sunset.
Digital image by Bryn Jones, March 2002.
The 2.3-metre telescope of the Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories. It has an alt-azimuth mount. The telescope had been set up for infrared observations at the time this picture was taken, hence the small secondary mirror.
Digital image by Bryn Jones, December 2001.
The mirror cell of the 2.3-metre telescope. The mirror was unusual at the time the telescope was constructed in the 1980's in that it was thinner than most mirrors of a similar size.
Digital image by Bryn Jones, March 2002.
The Forty-inch Telescope - a 1.0-metre diameter reflector - is a modest sized instrument at Siding Spring. It was built in the 1960s. It is mainly used for imaging.
The building of the 40-inch telescope of the Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories. The Warrumbungle mountains can be seen in the background.
Digital image by Bryn Jones, December 2001.
Another view of the building of the 40-inch telescope.
Digital image by Bryn Jones, May 2002.
The 40-inch telescope.
Digital image by Bryn Jones, May 2002.
Another view of the 40-inch telescope.
Digital image by Bryn Jones, May 2002.
Another view of the 40-inch telescope.
Digital image by Bryn Jones, May 2002.
Looking along the tube of the 40-inch telescope. At the bottom is the Wide-Field Imager camera.
Digital image by Bryn Jones, May 2002.
A close up view of the Wide-Field Imager camera at the Cassegrain focus. The camera has eight 4096 x 2048 pixel CCD detectors and performs imaging over a 52 arcmin wide field. Alternatively, it can be mounted at the prime focus of the Anglo-Australian Telescope.
Digital image by Bryn Jones, May 2002.
Filling the dewar of the Wide-Field Imager with liquid nitrogen. The observer does this at sunset and at sunrise.
Digital image by Bryn Jones, May 2002.
The building of the 24-inch telescope of the Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories. With a mirror diameter of only 24 inches (0.61 metre), this is a minor instrument, but is still used used for some productive work, particularly stellar photometry.
Digital image by Bryn Jones, March 2002.
Sunset at Siding Spring on what was not the best night for observing. The mountains of the Warrumbungle National Park can be seen in silhoulette. Beyond the mountains, the plains stretch to the horizon and across the interior of Australia.
Digital image by Bryn Jones, December 2001.
More information can be found at the
Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories web site,
in particular the site's description of the
MSSSO observing facilities.
Return to the index of observatory pictures
for pictures of other observatories,
including the Anglo-Australian Observatory.
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This page was created at a different site in May 2002 by Bryn Jones and is maintained by him. E-mail: Bryn.Jones [followed by @qmul.ac.uk] WWW home page : http://www.maths.qmul.ac.uk/~jbj/ URL of this page: http://www.maths.qmul.ac.uk/~jbj/obspics/obspics/sidingsp/mssso_ss.html . It was last modified on 20th July, 2006. The views and opinions expressed in these pages are strictly those of the page author. The contents of these pages have not been reviewed or approved by Queen Mary, University of London. |