Those who have never seen the stars in the southern sky should definitely make a trip to the Sydney Observatory, Australia's premier astronomical museum with state-of-the-art facilities. Naturally, it's best visited in the evening, but there's plenty to do during the day too - the 3D Space Theatre offers an amazing display of stargazing.
The Sydney Observatory was built over 150 years ago - in 1858, making it the oldest in the country. Today, this Italianate-style building is recognised as a site of national importance and is listed as Australia's cultural heritage. Thanks to its convenient location, close to the famous Harbour Bridge, the observatory is accessible from anywhere in the city.
The Sydney Observatory once fulfilled many functions - it was used for navigation, meteorology for navigation, accurate timekeeping and, of course, for the the study of the stars in the southern sky. The astronomers who worked at the observatory and lived here until 1982, when the observatory became a museum.
Today, the main task of the observatory is to popularise astronomy and to provide access to stargazing for everyone. Here you can see a unique exhibit - a telescope made in 1874 with 29-centimetre lenses, and next to it - a state-of-the-art computer-controlled telescope, and the latest alpha hydrogen telescope for observing the Sun. All the stars and constellations of near-Earth space are projected on the dome of the 3D theatre. Every day the observatory hosts lectures on the history of astronomy, its achievements and the latest discoveries.
