Collection of photographs relating to Sydney and Pennant Hills Observatory
Object No. 2005/124/1
Many of these photographs are previously unfamiliar and give insight into the history of Sydney Observatory. They include photographs of Pennant Hills (Red Hill) Observatory, Sydney Observatory and the 1922 Sydney Observatory expedition to Goondiwindi in Queensland to observe a total solar eclipse. There are also interesting images of a 1908 eclipse trip to Tahiti. The photographs were taken by or were owned by James Short, who was in charge of the astrographic telescope at Sydney Observatory's Red Hill Branch from July 1890 until his retirement in 1930. He made important contributions to the work of the Observatory while his turbulent relationships with the various Government Astronomers add colour to the Observatory's history.
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Summary
Object Statement
Collection of photographs and postcard, relating to Sydney Observatory and Pennant Hills (Red Hills) Observatory, paper / card, various photographers, Sydney, New South Wales / Goondiwindi, Queensland, Australia / Tahiti, owned by James Short, 1890-1922
Physical Description
Photographic prints (61), paper, used by James Short, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1890-1922 Photographs cover the following subjects #Pennant Hills Observatory grounds 1890 with James Short #Postcard of Pennant Hills Observatory #29-cm telescope mounted on cardboard #Looking south from the Observatory towards Messengers Cottage #Looking west? #WE Cooke with Astrographic telescope #Departing Pennant Hills with astrograph in 1922 - small #Departing Pennant Hills with astrograph in 1922 #Setting up astrograph at Goondiwindi (5) - small #Goondiwindi people in front of Crawford & Co #Temporary observatory at Goondiwindi #WE Cooke at Goondiwindi #Dallmeyer and telephoto camera marked NSW eclipse expedition at Pennant Hills #Tahiti eclipse 1908 (7) - small #Tahiti eclipse 1908 mounted on cardboard (3) #James Short in group photo with Johnson, Worthington & others in Tahiti #Solar eclipse #Lighting flash mounted on cardboard (3) #Trifid Nebula with reseau on cardboard with serrated edges #Lunar eclipse 4 August 1906 on cardboard with serrated edges #Four Jupiter images mounted on cardboard #Comet Swift on cardboard with caption #Flames from Millers Point fire Dec 1890 HCR #Total solar eclipse (7) #Moon photo mounted on cardboard (2) #Clouds mounted on cardboard some with annotations (13) #Star field RA 8 hours 37 min Dec 46 degrees 53 min #Wooden structure
DIMENSIONS
Height
119 mm
Width
163 mm
PRODUCTION
Notes
These photographs were made by various makers.
HISTORY
Notes
James Walter Short was born on 11 November 1865. He was given a temporary appointment "In charge of Photographic Telescope" at Sydney Observatory on 3 July 1890. Six years later on 3 July 1896 he became the permanent "Astronomical Photographer". Short retired at the end of 1930 and died on 21 June 1943. He had three sons: Graham Gunther Short Ron Short (killed during WWII) Russell Short
SOURCE
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs Carole Short, 2005
Acquisition Date
18 May 2005
Copyright for the above image is held by the Powerhouse and may be subject to third-party copyright restrictions. Please submit an Image Licensing Enquiry for information regarding reproduction, copyright and fees. Text is released under Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivative licence.
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