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This Observatory, situated at Mount Pleasant in Ballarat, was established on the initiative and with the financial support of James Oddie, and was formally opened to the public in 1886. When Oddie presented the Observatory to the people of Ballarat, it became the first municipal observatory in Australia.
For over 100 years, it has served the Ballarat community and for the last 40 years it has been managed by the Ballaarat Astronomical Society. This is a unique situation; a municipal observatory, run by an amateur group. Apart from its astronomical use, the Observatory buildings and telescopes are of great historical interest, and were classified by the National Trust in 1989, and added to the Historic Buildings Register in 1992.
The Observatory is located on the corner of Magpie and Cobden Street, Mount Pleasant, Ballarat East and is open every Friday and Saturday evening
For the local weather information courtesy of “Weatherzone” click here
Go to images for some photos.
The banner at the top of this page is from a sketch by John Brittain when he was Superintendent of the Observatory, and shows its appearance in about 1922.
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All photographs and material appearing on this website © Copyright Ballaarat Astronomical Society 1998 and appear in booklets produced by the Society . The image of James Oddie is from an original oil painting currently exhibited at the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery. Use of any images on this website requires the permission of the Ballaarat Astronomical Society Original page layout and graphics by John Baskerville