Building Highlight - Siding Spring Observatory

Siding Spring Observatory (SSO) is located around 30km west of Coonabarabran, NSW, on the edge of the Warrumbungle National Park. It was officially opened on 5th April 1965. In attendance at the ceremony were President of the Coonabarabran Shire Council, Councillor RD Renshaw; Director of Mount Stromlo Observatory, Professor Bart Bok; ANU Chancellor, Sir John Cockcroft; and ANU Vice-Chancellor, Sir Leonard Huxley. 

The observatory was originally proposed in the 1950s, with extensive testing of a number of sites during the 1950s and 1960s. A growing Canberra population began to cause a light pollution issue at Mount Stromlo Observatory, making it clear that a second observatory was needed that was located away from city lights. 

The ANU Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (RSAA) operates its research telescopes, and hosts those of other institutions here. This includes 10 different operational telescopes run by Australian, British, Polish, American and Korean researchers. The most well-known telescopes are the University's revolutionary Skymapper Telescope and the Anglo-Australian Telescope, operated by the Australian Astronomical Observatory. 

SSO is Australia's key optical and infrared observatory, with SSO and the Mount Stromlo Observatory in Canberra, constituting the most important observational facilities in the Southern Hemisphere.  

SSO has been threatened by bushfires a number of times, including in January 2013 when a number of buildings were destroyed, although no damage was sustained to any of the telescopes. 

References

ANU Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics n.d., Siding Spring Observatory,