Designed in Ireland, assembled in Australia, pointed at the stars In the 1860s the Dublin engineer Thomas Grubb built the world’s most advanced telescope
about 3 hours ago Dr J Patrick Greene
Great Melbourne Telescope: the instrument being installed in 1869, after it was shipped in pieces from the works of Thomas Grubb, in Dublin. Photograph: Museums Victoria
On July 3rd, 1866, a dramatic event took place in the Dublin suburb of Rathmines, not far from the Grand Canal, in a workshop specially built for the creation of a giant telescope. The effectiveness of the telescope depended on the quality of the mirror, and it was this that was being cast, watched by a group of fascinated gentlemen. Two tons of speculum, an alloy of copper and tin, was melted in a furnace and then poured into a hoop-ring mould. The casting took three weeks to cool, after which the