The Australian National University’s Mt. Stromlo Observatory, near Canberra, Australia burned nearly to the ground on 18 January. The bush fires, which ravaged more than 1050 km2 of land, destroyed the observatory’s three domes, six telescopes, equipment workshops, eight staff houses, and an administration building. Preliminary estimates put the losses at more than AUD$20 million (roughly US$12 million) and are climbing.
The workshops held a nearly finished AUD$5 million imaging spectrograph for the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii and initial work on a similar instrument for the Gemini South Telescope in Chile. Those losses may be hardest to deal with, says Brad Gibson of Swinburne University of Technology located in Victoria.
Penny Sackett, director of the observatory, adds, “Our losses felt overwhelming at the time, and the scene of Mt. Stromlo is one of devastation …, but we retained our most valuable asset, our staff, 100% intact, and we...
