Parramatta Observatory: Separating some Facts from the Fiction

Presenter(s): Ms Sharon Rutledge

Affiliation(s): University of New South Wales

Session details: Sunday, 2010-04-04 05:30:00

Abstract

January 27th 2010 commemorates 150 years since the death of Sir Thomas Brisbane. Although the Parramatta Observatory was in operation by May 1822, several current non-Australian astronomy texts credit the astronomical research of the Southern Hemisphere during the early nineteenth century to South Africa. The few published exceptions that mention Sir Thomas and Parramatta Observatory include a number of persistent inaccuracies. Examples of information errors highlight the importance of individual research. Comparing in-text statements and published references with primary-source documents show obvious mistakes. Compounding this misinformation is the ease of access to the World Wide Web where a posting of inaccurate, ill-researched information becomes an accepted fact. Appropriate recognition of Sir Thomas’s observatory, functioning under the constraints of scientific isolation, is long overdue. The grandeur of this endeavour is important to Australia and our astronomical and scientific history. The vagaries of history, the loss of written records, misinformation, written and verbal embellishment, and time, have obscured the richness that was Parramatta Observatory. The pursuit of accurate records may lift the shroud of anonymity and justly unveil the achievements of Sir Thomas Brisbane and the extraordinary individuals of Parramatta Observatory.

Biography

Sharon Rutledge is a nurse with a life-long interest in astronomy and augments her amateur status through formal study. In 1995, she completed a Basic Astronomy Course with Open Learning, UNE. A Graduate Certificate in Astronomy in 2004, UWS, and a Master of Astronomy in 2006, JCU, followed. She has a passionate interest in the history of Parramatta Observatory.