Today was our tour of Siding Spring Observatory. We arrived to find the boom gates down and workers telling us the whole place was closed. Eventually, along came Mike who explained he was our tour guide and that we (and 5 others) were the first tour group ever! We entered through the boom gates in convoy and had our tour.
He was a bit deprecating about it all. It was initially a British-Aus venture, but then the Brits pulled out. It wasn't a good place for an observatory. It was built there because, at the time. Australia was stable and the observatory would not be attacked and blown up. The Atacama desert in Chile was a better place for an observatory because it NEVER rained. I have heard of houses there with no roofs.
Now, no-one wants to fund the observatory. It is run by a consortium including universities, who are suffering with the COVID lockdowns.
First glimpse
Getting closer
These are all involved.
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