11.5-inch telescope,Sydney Observatory. This refracting telescope,on an equatorial mount,was built in 1874 in brass and glass by Hugo Schroeder of Hamburg,Germany. It was erected at the Sydney Observatory,Sydney,Australia. The couch at lower right provides a sense of scale. The original dome,built when the Sydney Observatory was established in 1858,was dismantled and a larger dome (the South Dome) built to accommodate this large telescope. It was initially used to observe the 1874 Transit of Venus. The telescope was restored in 2009 to its 1880s appearance,and is now used for public viewings. Photographed in 1887 |