Western Sydney Amateur Astronomy Group

Speaker: Prof. Wayne Orchiston (University of Science & Technology of China)

Topic: Ken Beames and Linden Observatory: Some Historical Reflections on Telescopes and Telescope-making in Sydney

During the 1940s and 1950s Ken Beames was the doyen of Sydney amateur telescope-makers, and as we all know, his ‘prize project’—a 24-inch (61-cm) Nasymyth reflector—was eventually mounted at Linden Observatory in the Blue Mountains. But Beames was inspired by earlier Sydney amateur astronomers, who between 1885 and the 1930s built or imported from overseas a number of reflecting telescopes that were regarded at the time as ‘large’ and were capable of contributing to serious observational astronomy.

In this talk I will focus on Ken Beames (whom I first visited in 1959), before discussing the historic 18-inch Sydney-based reflectors owned by Hans Madsen, Charles Matthews and George Hoskins, and the remarkable 20-inch ‘Catts Telescope’.

Visitors wishing to attend in person or online via Zoom must email us to make a booking.