Precious dark skies

Paul Jones provides Gina Pickering rare access to the 18th century Atlas Coelestis featuring 26 beautiful constellations.

The Perth Observatory at Bickley is undergoing a million dollar transformation to deliver a unique visitor experience of Aboriginal and Western Science. Western Australia’s precious dark skies provide the backdrop for an imaginative project funded by Lotterywest which includes the development and design of a new Museum by Fabrik Director Mark Welsh with a curatorial approach by Gina Pickering from Latitude Creative Services.

The Perth Observatory holds an exceptional collection of objects including telescopes, chronometers and photographic glass plates which were used to record the night sky. Extraordinary documents are a feature of the collection, including the Carte du Ciel (1887-1964) and a rare copy of the very beautiful Atlas Coelestis produced in the 18th century which contribute to knowledge of star positions.