BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//jEvents 2.0 for Joomla//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Australia/Sydney BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20250406T020000 RDATE:20251005T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+1100 TZOFFSETTO:+1000 TZNAME:Australia/Sydney AEST END:STANDARD BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20260405T020000 RDATE:20261004T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+1100 TZOFFSETTO:+1000 TZNAME:Australia/Sydney AEST END:STANDARD BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20270404T020000 RDATE:20271003T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+1100 TZOFFSETTO:+1000 TZNAME:Australia/Sydney AEST END:STANDARD BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20280402T020000 RDATE:20281001T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:+1100 TZOFFSETTO:+1000 TZNAME:Australia/Sydney AEST END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20250304T193000 RDATE:20250406T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:Australia/Sydney AEDT END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20251005T030000 RDATE:20260405T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:Australia/Sydney AEDT END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20261004T030000 RDATE:20270404T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:Australia/Sydney AEDT END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20271003T030000 RDATE:20280402T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:Australia/Sydney AEDT END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20281001T030000 RDATE:20290401T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+1000 TZOFFSETTO:+1100 TZNAME:Australia/Sydney AEDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:48cad5b8bd66afc6ef67fd14c1897471 CATEGORIES:Guest Speaker Night CREATED:20251115T154919 SUMMARY:Guest Speaker - Prof Richard de Grijs - Macquarie University LOCATION:Green Point Observatory DESCRIPTION:William Dawes and Dawes Observatory (Dawes Point)The voyage of the "First F leet" from Britain to the new colony of New South Wales was not only a mili tary enterprise, it also had a distinct scientific purpose. Britain's fifth Astronomer Royal, Nevil Maskelyne, had selected William Dawes, a promising young Marine with a propensity for astronomical observations, as his proté gé. Maskelyne convinced the British Board of Longitude to supply Dawes with a suite of state-of-the-art instruments and allow the young Marine to esta blish an observatory in the new settlement. The Astronomer Royal may have h ad a dual motivation, one driven by strategic national interests combined w ith a personal investment linked to the suggested re-appearance of a comet in the southern sky. With the unexpected assistance of the French Lapérouse expedition, between 1788 and 1791 Dawes established not one but two observ atories within a kilometre of Sydney's present-day city centre. Motivated b y persisting confusion in the literature, we explore the historical record to narrow down the precise location of Dawes' observatory. We conclude that the memorial plaque attached to Sydney Harbour Bridge indicates an incorre ct location. Overwhelming contemporary evidence -- maps, charts and pictori al representations -- implies that Dawes' observatory was located on the no rtheastern tip of the promontory presently known as The Rocks (formerly Daw es' Point), with any remains having vanished during the construction of the Harbour Bridge.\n\nProf Richard de GrijsRichard de Grijs is a prolific pub lic speaker on topics ranging from astronomy and astrophysics to maritime h istory. Richard holds professional appointments as professor of astrophysic s at Macquarie University and as Executive Director of the International Sp ace Science Institute--Beijing. He recently published the first detailed bi ography of William Dawes, the astronomer assigned to the “First Fleet” from England to Australia (1787–1788). His academic accolades include the 2012 Selby Award from the Australian Academy of Science, a 2017 Erskine Award fr om the University of Canterbury (New Zealand) and the 2023 Excellence in Re search Integrity award from Macquarie University's Faculty of Science and E ngineering. He also received the 2022 Blacktown Mayoral History Prize and t he 2022 Hella Mannheimer Award (Hektoen International Journal of Medical Hu manities).\n \nNote: This will be an in-person presentation at the Green Po int Observatory. Members will also receive an invitation to join online for those who cannot make it to the GPO.\n X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

William Dawes and Dawes Observatory (Dawes Point)

The voyage of the "First Fleet" from Britain to the new colony of New South Wales was not only a military enterprise, it also had a distinct scientific purpose. Bri tain's fifth Astronomer Royal, Nevil Maskelyne, had selected William Dawes, a promising young Marine with a propensity for astronomical observations, as his protégé. Maskelyne convinced the British Board of Longitude to suppl y Dawes with a suite of state-of-the-art instruments and allow the young Ma rine to establish an observatory in the new settlement. The Astronomer Roya l may have had a dual motivation, one driven by strategic national interest s combined with a personal investment linked to the suggested re-appearance of a comet in the southern sky. With the unexpected assistance of the Fren ch Lapérouse expedition, between 1788 and 1791 Dawes established not one bu t two observatories within a kilometre of Sydney's present-day city centre. Motivated by persisting confusion in the literature, we explore the histor ical record to narrow down the precise location of Dawes' observatory. We c onclude that the memorial plaque attached to Sydney Harbour Bridge indicate s an incorrect location. Overwhelming contemporary evidence -- maps, charts and pictorial representations -- implies that Dawes' observatory was locat ed on the northeastern tip of the promontory presently known as The Rocks ( formerly Dawes' Point), with any remains having vanished during the constru ction of the Harbour Bridge.

Richard de Grijs

Prof Richard de Gr ijs

Richard de Grijs is a prolific public speaker on topics ranging from astronomy and astrophysics to maritime history. Richard holds professi onal appointments as professor of astrophysics at Macquarie University and as Executive Director of the International Space Science Institute--Beijing . He recently published the first detailed biography of William Dawes, the astronomer assigned to the “First Fleet” from England to Australia (1787–17 88). His academic accolades include the 2012 Selby Award from the Australia n Academy of Science, a 2017 Erskine Award from the University of Canterbur y (New Zealand) and the 2023 Excellence in Research Integrity award from Ma cquarie University's Faculty of Science and Engineering. He also received t he 2022 Blacktown Mayoral History Prize and the 2022 Hella Mannheimer Award (Hektoen International Journal of Medical Humanities).

 

Note: This will be an in-person presentation at the Green Point Observatory . Members will also receive an invitation to join online for those who cann ot make it to the GPO.

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