MOUNT Stromlo, the Australian observatory devastated by bush fires in January, could be operational again within three years. But the Australian National University’s plans to rebuild one of the telescopes at its original site are now the subject of intense debate because the observatory is just 10 kilometres from the night-time lights of Canberra.
Only two of Mount Stromlo’s six telescopes were used for primary research – a 74-inch spectroscopic telescope that was used to study the chemical composition of stars and to look for new planets, as well as a 50-inch wide-field telescope used for digital sky-mapping. The Australian National University wants to replace the…
