98-592: Mount Stromlo Observatory located in the west of Canberra , Australia , is part of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Australian National University (ANU). Australia's oldest telescope and several others at the observatory were destroyed by bushfire in 2003. The observatory was established in 1924 as The Commonwealth Solar Observatory . The Mount Stromlo site had already been used for observations in
196-813: A DORIS (geodesy) earth station installed by France 's CNES . Mount Stromlo Observatory is located at an altitude of 770 metres above sea level on Mount Stromlo . Situated west of the centre of Canberra, near the district of Weston Creek . Canberra's main water supply treatment plant is located nearby. The observatory received an Engineering Heritage International Marker from Engineers Australia as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program . The observatory received an IEEE Special Citation from IEEE as part of its IEEE Milestone Program. R. Bhathal, R. Sutherland, & H. Butcher (2013), Mt Stromlo Observatory, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne VIC, ISBN 9781486300754 Canberra Canberra ( / ˈ k æ n b ər ə / KAN -bər-ə )
294-571: A Skywhale family , an event marked by Skywhale-themed pastries and beer produced by local companies as well as an art pop song entitled "We are the Skywhales". In 2014, Canberra was named the best city to live in the world by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , and was named the third best city to visit in the world by Lonely Planet in 2017. Canberra covers an area of 814.2 km (314.4 sq mi) and
392-597: A dairy on the site in 1832, now regarded as the oldest standing European building in Canberra, followed by the imposing stone house that is now the officers' mess of the Royal Military College, Duntroon . The Campbells sponsored settlement by other farmer families to work their land, such as the Southwells of " Weetangera ". Other notable early colonists included Henry Donnison, who established
490-601: A Royal Commission in 1916 ruled his authority had been usurped by certain officials and his original plan was reinstated. Griffin's relationship with the Australian authorities was strained and a lack of funding meant that by the time he was fired in 1920, little work had been done. By this time, Griffin had revised his plan, overseen the earthworks of major avenues and established the Glenloch Cork Plantation. The Commonwealth government purchased
588-567: A few days earlier. Planned development of the city slowed significantly during the depression of the 1930s and during World War II. Some projects planned for that time, including Roman Catholic and Anglican cathedrals, were never completed. (Nevertheless, in 1973 the Roman Catholic parish church of St. Christopher was remodelled into St. Christopher's Cathedral, Manuka , serving the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn. It
686-579: A fisheries biologist. When he was 13, his family relocated to Anchorage, Alaska . Schmidt attended Bartlett High School in Anchorage, Alaska , and graduated in 1985. He has said that he wanted to be a meteorologist "since I was about five-years-old [but] ... I did some work at the USA National Weather Service up in Anchorage and didn't enjoy it very much. It was less scientific, not as exciting as I thought it would be—there
784-435: A grid. Griffin's proposal had an abundance of geometric patterns, including concentric hexagonal and octagonal streets emanating from several radii. However, the outer areas of the city, built later, are not laid out geometrically. Lake Burley Griffin was deliberately designed so that the orientation of the components was related to various topographical landmarks in Canberra. The lakes stretch from east to west and divided
882-631: A long dispute over whether Sydney or Melbourne should be the national capital, a compromise was reached: the new capital would be built in New South Wales , so long as it was at least 100 mi (160 km) from Sydney. The capital city was founded and formally named as Canberra in 1913. A plan by the American architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin was selected after an international design contest, and construction commenced in 1913. Unusual among Australian cities, it
980-488: A memorial in 2015. In 2023, the Quantum Optical Ground Station was launched. It allows for terabit-per-second communication using adaptive optics and lasers . The MACHO project detected the first instance of the gravitational lensing of one star by another, known as gravitational microlensing , in 1993 (Alcock et al. 1993; Paczynski 1996). This discovery was made by repeated imaging of
1078-587: A piece of melted optical glass (flint). The latter has pieces of charcoal and wire fused into it from the fierce heat of the fire. Redevelopment is completed and the Observatory is now a major partner in the construction of the Giant Magellan Telescope . The current observatory director is Stuart Wyithe The director's residence, destroyed in the 2003 fire, was rebuilt and opened to the public as
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#17327943890261176-405: A village and its disorganised collection of buildings was deemed ugly. Canberra was often derisively described as "several suburbs in search of a city". Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies regarded the state of the national capital as an embarrassment. Over time his attitude changed from one of contempt to that of championing its development. He fired two ministers charged with the development of
1274-608: A week. This event coincided with a heatwave across south-eastern Australia during which the temperature in Canberra reached 108.5 degrees Fahrenheit (42.5 Celsius) on 11 January. On Friday, 13 January, the Black Friday bushfires caused 71 deaths in Victoria and Wells accompanied the Governor-General on his tour of areas threatened by fires. Immediately after the end of the war, Canberra was criticised for resembling
1372-577: Is an American Australian astrophysicist at the Australian National University 's Mount Stromlo Observatory and Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics. He was the Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National University (ANU) from January 2016 to January 2024. He is known for his research in using supernovae as cosmological probes. He previously held a Federation Fellowship and a Laureate Fellowship from
1470-400: Is an entirely planned city . The Griffins' plan featured geometric motifs and was centred on axes aligned with significant topographical landmarks such as Black Mountain , Mount Ainslie , Capital Hill and City Hill . Canberra's mountainous location makes it the only mainland Australian city where snow-capped mountains can be seen in winter, although snow in the city itself is uncommon. As
1568-581: Is common in the winter months. Snow is rare in the CBD (central business district) due to being on the leeward (eastern) side of the dividing range, but the surrounding areas get annual snowfall through winter and often the snow-capped Brindabella Range can be seen from the CBD. The last significant snowfall in the city centre was in 1968. Canberra is often affected by foehn winds, especially in winter and spring , evident by its anomalously warm maxima relative to altitude. The highest recorded maximum temperature
1666-660: Is located near the Brindabella Ranges (part of the Australian Alps ), approximately 150 km (93 mi) inland from Australia's east coast . It has an elevation of approximately 580 m (1,900 ft) AHD ; the highest point is Mount Majura at 888 m (2,913 ft). Other low mountains include Mount Taylor 855 m (2,805 ft), Mount Ainslie 843 m (2,766 ft), Mount Mugga Mugga 812 m (2,664 ft) and Black Mountain 812 m (2,664 ft). The native forest in
1764-464: Is lower and the average income higher; tertiary education levels are higher, while the population is younger. At the 2016 Census, 32% of Canberra's inhabitants were reported as having been born overseas. Canberra's design is influenced by the garden city movement and incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation. Its design can be viewed from its highest point at the Telstra Tower and
1862-597: Is now usually referred to as 'Dark Energy'. He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE) in 2023. Schmidt is married to Jennifer Gordon. They met while they were both studying for their PhDs at Harvard – he in astrophysics and she in economics. They decided to settle in Australia, which he had already visited on several occasions to visit family. He now holds dual citizenship of Australia and
1960-549: Is served with domestic and international flights at Canberra Airport , while interstate train and coach services depart from Canberra railway station and the Jolimont Centre respectively. City Interchange and Alinga Street station form the main hub of Canberra's bus and light rail transport network. The word "Canberra" is derived from the Ngunnawal language of a local Ngunnawal or Ngambri clan who resided in
2058-552: Is superbly placed to deliver on the ambition of ANU founders – to permanently secure our position among the great universities of the world, and as a crucial contributor to the nation ... We had a stellar field of international and Australian candidates, and have chosen an inspirational leader. ... Brian's vision, vitality, global stature and communication skills are going to take our national university to places it has never been before." On 2 February 2023, Schmidt announced that he would be stepping down as vice chancellor at
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#17327943890262156-532: Is the capital city of Australia . Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest Australian city overall . The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory at the northern tip of the Australian Alps , the country's highest mountain range. As of June 2023, Canberra's estimated population
2254-730: Is the only cathedral in Canberra. ) From 1920 to 1957, three bodies — successively the Federal Capital Advisory Committee , the Federal Capital Commission , and the National Capital Planning and Development Committee — continued to plan the further expansion of Canberra in the absence of Griffin. However, they were only advisory and development decisions were made without consulting them, which increased inefficiency. The largest event in Canberra up to World War II
2352-414: The 2019/2020 bushfires . On 1 January 2020, Canberra had the worst air quality of any major city in the world, with an AQI of 7700 (USAQI 949). Canberra is a planned city and the inner-city area was originally designed by Walter Burley Griffin , a major 20th-century American architect. Within the central area of the city near Lake Burley Griffin, major roads follow a wheel-and-spoke pattern rather than
2450-741: The Astronomical Society of India 's Vainu Bappu Medal in 2002. He was the Marc Aaronson Memorial Lecturer in 2005, the same year he received an ARC Federation Fellowship, and in 2006 he shared the Shaw Prize in Astronomy with Adam Riess and Saul Perlmutter . In 2009, he was awarded an Australian Laureate Fellowship . Schmidt and the other members of the High-Z Team (the set defined by
2548-1158: The Australian National University , the Royal Australian Mint , the Australian Institute of Sport , the National Gallery , the National Museum and the National Library . The city is home to many important institutions of the Australian Defence Force including the Royal Military College Duntroon and the Australian Defence Force Academy . It hosts all foreign embassies in Australia as well as regional headquarters of many international organisations, not-for-profit groups, lobbying groups and professional associations. Canberra has been ranked among
2646-857: The High-Z Supernova Search Team shared in the 2015 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics . Schmidt was awarded the Dirac Medal of the University of New South Wales in 2012 and the Niels Bohr Institute Medal of Honour in 2015. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2012; his certificate of election to the Royal Society reads: Brian Schmidt is an internationally renowned researcher in cosmology and also in
2744-699: The Magellanic Clouds with the refurbished 50-inch Great Melbourne Telescope which was equipped with a mosaic of eight 2048 by 2048 pixel CCDs . The camera was constructed by the Centre for Particle Astrophysics in California (CFPA), and at the time was the largest digital camera ever built (Frame & Faulkner 2003). Observations began in July 1992 and the project concluded in December 1999. In total,
2842-810: The Murrumbidgee north-west of Canberra, which in turn flows north-west toward the New South Wales town of Yass. The Queanbeyan River joins the Molonglo River at Oaks Estate just within the ACT. A number of creeks, including Jerrabomberra and Yarralumla Creeks, flow into the Molonglo and Murrumbidgee. Two of these creeks, the Ginninderra and Tuggeranong, have similarly been dammed to form Lakes Ginninderra and Tuggeranong . Until recently
2940-495: The University of Arizona in 1989. He received his AM (Astronomy) in 1992 and then PhD (Astronomy) in 1993 from Harvard University . Schmidt's PhD thesis was supervised by Robert Kirshner and used Type II Supernovae to measure the Hubble Constant . While at Harvard, he met his future wife, the Australian (Jenny) Jennifer M. Gordon who was a PhD student in economics. In 1994, they moved to Australia. Schmidt
3038-702: The Yarralumla estate—now the site of the official residence of the Governor-General of Australia—in 1827, and John Palmer who employed Duncan Macfarlane to form the Jerrabomberra property in 1828. A year later, John MacPherson established the Springbank estate, becoming the first British owner-occupier in the region. The Anglican church of St John the Baptist , in the suburb of Reid,
Mount Stromlo Observatory - Misplaced Pages Continue
3136-488: The districts of Woden Valley and Belconnen commenced in the mid and late 1960s respectively, followed by the district of Tuggeranong in the mid 1970s. Many of the new suburbs were named after Australian politicians such as Barton , Deakin , Reid , Braddon , Curtin , Chifley and Parkes . On 9 May 1988, a larger and permanent Parliament House was opened on Capital Hill as part of Australia's bicentenary celebrations. The Commonwealth Parliament moved there from
3234-542: The 100th anniversary of the naming of Canberra. On 11 March 2014, the last day of the centennial year, the Canberra Centenary Column was unveiled in City Hill . Other works included The Skywhale , a hot air balloon designed by the sculptor Patricia Piccinini , and StellrScope by visual media artist Eleanor Gates-Stuart. On 7 February 2021, The Skywhale was joined by Skywhalepapa to create
3332-623: The ACT's first government, led by the Chief Minister Rosemary Follett , who made history as Australia's first female head of government. The 1990s also saw urban development begin in the district of Gungahlin in the far north of the ACT. Parts of Canberra were engulfed by bushfires on 18 January 2003 that killed four people, injured 435 and destroyed more than 500 homes as well as the major research telescopes of Australian National University's Mount Stromlo Observatory . Throughout 2013, several events celebrated
3430-650: The Australian Research Council, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2012 . Schmidt shared both the 2006 Shaw Prize in Astronomy and the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics with Saul Perlmutter and Adam Riess for providing evidence that the expansion of the universe is accelerating . Schmidt, an only child, was born in Missoula, Montana , where his father Dana C. Schmidt was
3528-701: The Canberra area include the Ngunnawal , Ngunawal and Ngambri peoples. Other groups claiming a connection to the land include the Ngarigo (who also lived directly to the south) and the Ngambri-Guumaal. Neighbouring groups include the Wandandian to the east, the Walgulu also to the south, Gandangara people to the north and Wiradjuri to the north-west. The first British settlers into the Canberra area described two clans of Ngunnawal people resident to
3626-411: The Canberra region was almost wholly eucalypt species and provided a resource for fuel and domestic purposes. By the early 1960s, logging had depleted the eucalypt, and concern about water quality led to the forests being closed. Interest in forestry began in 1915 with trials of a number of species including Pinus radiata on the slopes of Mount Stromlo. Since then, plantations have been expanded, with
3724-591: The Empire sought subscriptions to assist raising funds. Survey work to determine the site's suitability had begun as soon as the idea of a new Capital was established. By 1909 the Australian Association for the Advancement of Science was assisted in this effort by Hugh Mahon (Minister for Home Affairs). Until World War II , the observatory specialised in solar and atmospheric observations. During
3822-585: The Gemini Telescope. This includes the near infrared integral field spectrometer, NIFS, deployed on Gemini-North, and the adaptive optics imager for Gemini-South, GSAOI. NIFS, when nearly completed, was destroyed in the bushfires of 18 January 2003, and rebuilt. A new rapid survey telescope, SkyMapper , was completed in 2014. SkyMapper resides at the ANU's other observatory ( Siding Spring ) and can be operated remotely from Mount Stromlo. Mount Stromlo hosts
3920-525: The HZT at a meeting at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian elected Schmidt as the overall leader of the HZT. Schmidt led the team from Australia and in 1998 in the HZT paper with first author Adam Riess the first evidence was presented that the universe's expansion rate is not decelerating; it is accelerating. The team's observations were contrary to the then-current models, which predicted that
4018-709: The MACHO project made over 200 billion stellar measurements, with the data processed both at the observatory and at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory . Brian Schmidt organised an international collaboration, known as the High-z Supernova Search Team , to study the rate of change of the Cosmic Expansion using type Ia supernovae . In 1998, the team reach the conclusion that the cosmic expansion
Mount Stromlo Observatory - Misplaced Pages Continue
4116-479: The Molonglo River had a history of sometimes calamitous floods; the area was a flood plain prior to the filling of Lake Burley Griffin. Under the Köppen-Geiger classification , Canberra has an oceanic climate ( Cfb ). In January, the warmest month, the average high is approximately 29 °C (84 °F); in July, the coldest month, the average high drops to approximately 12 °C (54 °F). Frost
4214-727: The Ngunnawal elder Don Bell, have speculated upon possible meanings of "Canberra" over the years. These include "meeting place", "woman's breasts" and "the hollow between a woman's breasts". Alternative proposals for the name of the city during its planning included Austral, Australville, Aurora, Captain Cook, Caucus City, Cookaburra, Dampier, Eden, Eucalypta, Flinders, Gonebroke, Home, Hopetoun, Kangaremu, Myola, Meladneyperbane, New Era, Olympus, Paradise, Shakespeare, Sydmelperadbrisho, Swindleville, The National City, Union City, Unison, Wattleton, Wheatwoolgold, Yass-Canberra. The first peoples of
4312-722: The Provisional Parliament House, now known as Old Parliament House. In December 1988, the Australian Capital Territory was granted full self-government by the Commonwealth Parliament, a step proposed as early as 1965. Following the first election on 4 March 1989, a 17-member Legislative Assembly sat at temporary offices at 1 Constitution Avenue, Civic, on 11 May 1989. Permanent premises were opened on London Circuit in 1994. The Australian Labor Party formed
4410-478: The United States. He is not religious, being described as a "militant agnostic" with his tagline, "I don't know, and neither do you!" Schmidt and his wife own and operate Maipenrai Vineyard and Winery, a small winery established in 2000 in Sutton , near Canberra. The vineyard covers 1.1 hectares (2.7 acres), producing exclusively pinot noir grapes, and the wines have received favourable reviews. Schmidt has quipped that "it's easier to sell your wine when you have
4508-400: The Year' by Science in 1998, and Schmidt was jointly awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics along with Riess and Perlmutter for their groundbreaking work. Schmidt is currently leading the SkyMapper telescope Project and the associated Southern Sky Survey, which will encompass billions of individual objects, enabling the team to pick out the most unusual objects. In 2014 they announced
4606-400: The area 21,000 years previously. Still today, Ngunnawal men into the present conduct ceremony on the banks of the river, Murrumbidgee River. They travel upstream as they receive their Totems and corresponding responsibilities for land management. 'Murrum' means 'Pathway' and Bidgee means 'Boss'. The submerged limestone caves beneath Lake Burley Griffin contained Aboriginal rock art, some of
4704-441: The area and were referred to by the early British colonists as either the Canberry , Kanberri or Nganbra tribe. Joshua John Moore , the first European land-owner in the region, named his grant "Canberry" in 1823 after these people. "Canberry Creek" and "Canberry" first appeared on regional maps from 1830, while the derivative name "Canberra" started to appear from around 1857. Numerous local commentators, including
4802-449: The benefit of reducing erosion in the Cotter catchment, and the forests are also popular recreation areas. The urban environs of the city of Canberra straddle the Ginninderra plain , Molonglo plain , the Limestone plain, and the Tuggeranong plain (Isabella's Plain). The Molonglo River which flows across the Molonglo plain has been dammed to form the national capital's iconic feature Lake Burley Griffin . The Molonglo then flows into
4900-482: The board advised that it could not support the Griffins' plan in its entirety and suggested an alternative plan of its own devising. This plan ostensibly incorporated the best features of the three place-getting designs as well as of a fourth design by H. Caswell, R.C.G. Coulter and W. Scott-Griffiths of Sydney, the rights to which it had purchased. It was this composite plan that was endorsed by Parliament and given formal approval by O'Malley on 10 January 1913. However, it
4998-430: The city for poor performance. Menzies remained in office for over a decade and in that time the development of the capital sped up rapidly. The population grew by more than 50 per cent in every five-year period from 1955 to 1975. Several Government departments, together with public servants, were moved to Canberra from Melbourne following the war. Government housing projects were undertaken to accommodate
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#17327943890265096-416: The city in two; a land axis perpendicular to the central basin stretches from Capital Hill —the eventual location of the new Parliament House on a mound on the southern side—north northeast across the central basin to the northern banks along Anzac Parade to the Australian War Memorial . This was designed so that looking from Capital Hill, the War Memorial stood directly at the foot of Mount Ainslie . At
5194-439: The city's growing population. The National Capital Development Commission (NCDC) formed in 1957 with executive powers and ended four decades of disputes over the shape and design of Lake Burley Griffin — the centrepiece of Griffin's design — and construction was completed in 1964 after four years of work. The completion of the lake finally laid the platform for the development of Griffin's Parliamentary Triangle . Since
5292-455: The co-authors of Riess et al. 1998) shared the 2007 Gruber Cosmology Prize , a $ 500,000 award, with Saul Perlmutter of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Supernova Cosmology Project (the set defined by the co-authors of Perlmutter et al. 1999) for their discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe. Schmidt, along with Riess and Perlmutter, jointly won the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for their observations which led to
5390-427: The devastating Canberra firestorm hit Mount Stromlo (which was surrounded by a plantation pine forest), destroying five telescopes, workshops, seven homes, and the heritage-listed administration building. The only telescope to escape the fires was the 1886 15-centimetre Farnham telescope. Relics from the fire are preserved in the collection of the National Museum of Australia . They include a melted telescope mirror and
5488-464: The discovery of the accelerating universe. Schmidt was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in the 2013 Australia Day Honours . He was called "Australian of the Year" for 2011 by The Australian newspaper. He is a Fellow and council member of the Australian Academy of Science , The United States National Academy of Sciences , the Royal Society , and Foreign Member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences . Schmidt, Adam Riess , and
5586-405: The discovery of the first star which did not contain any iron, indicating that it is a very primitive star, probably formed during the first rush of star formation following the Big Bang. He is the chairman of the board of directors of Astronomy Australia Limited , and he serves on the management committee of the ARC Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO). In July 2012 Schmidt
5684-465: The end of the year. The publicity that came with winning the Nobel Prize has given Schmidt the opportunity to help the public understand why science is important to society, and to champion associated causes. Schmidt has received the Australian Government's inaugural Malcolm McIntosh Prize for achievement in the Physical Sciences in 2000, Harvard University 's Bok Prize in 2000, the Australian Academy of Science 's Pawsey Medal Medal in 2001, and
5782-459: The expansion of the universe should be slowing down, and when the preliminary results emerged Schmidt assumed it was an error and he spent the next six weeks trying to find the mistake. But there was no mistake: contrary to expectations, by monitoring the brightness and measuring the redshift of the supernovae , they discovered that these billion-year old exploding stars and their galaxies were accelerating away from our reference frame. This result
5880-415: The growth of a boy into a man. In October 1820, Charles Throsby led the first British expedition to the area. Four other expeditions occurred between 1820 and 1823 with the first accurate map being produced by explorer Mark John Currie in June 1823. By this stage the area had become known as the Limestone Plains. British settlement of the area probably dates from late 1823, when a sheep station
5978-522: The initial construction of the lake, various buildings of national importance have been constructed on its shores. The newly built Australian National University was expanded and sculptures as well as monuments were built. A new National Library was constructed within the Parliamentary Triangle, followed by the High Court and the National Gallery . Suburbs in Canberra Central (often referred to as North Canberra and South Canberra ) were further developed in the 1950s and urban development in
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#17327943890266076-466: The largest galaxy redshift survey of its time, and was conducted at the Anglo-Australian Observatory (AAO) with the 3.9m Anglo-Australian Telescope between 1997 and 11 April 2002. In total, the survey measured more than 245,000 galaxies, providing, along with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey , the definitive measurements of large scale structure in the low-redshift Universe. The instrumentation group at Mount Stromlo Observatory has built two instruments for
6174-422: The mountains. The area is generally sheltered from a westerly wind, though strong northwesterlies can develop. A cool, vigorous afternoon easterly change, colloquially referred to as a 'sea-breeze' or the 'Braidwood Butcher', is common during the summer months and often exceeds 40 km/h in the city. Canberra is also less humid than the nearby coastal areas. Canberra was severely affected by smoke haze during
6272-400: The national capital started during debates over federation in the late 19th century. Following a long dispute over whether Sydney or Melbourne should be the national capital, a compromise was reached: the new capital would be built in New South Wales, so long as it was at least 100 mi (160 km) from Sydney, with Melbourne to be the temporary seat of government while the new capital
6370-406: The northern side of the city, was designated the municipal axis. The municipal axis became the location of Constitution Avenue , which links City Hill in Civic Centre and both Market Centre and the Defence precinct on Russell Hill. Commonwealth Avenue and Kings Avenue were to run from the southern side from Capital Hill to City Hill and Market Centre on the north respectively, and they formed
6468-430: The only sites in the region. Galambary (Black Mountain) is an important Aboriginal meeting and business site, predominantly for men's business. According to the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, Mt Ainslie is primarily for place of women's business. Black Mountain and Mount Ainslie are referred to as women's breasts. Galambary was also used by Ngunnawal people as an initiation site, with the mountain itself said to represent
6566-475: The pastoral property of Yarralumla in 1913 to provide an official residence for the Governor-General of Australia in the new capital. Renovations began in 1925 to enlarge and modernise the property. In 1927, the property was officially dubbed Government House. On 9 May that year, the Commonwealth parliament moved to Canberra with the opening of the Provisional Parliament House . The Prime Minister Stanley Bruce had officially taken up residence in The Lodge
6664-421: The physics of supernovae and gamma ray bursts. In particular, Schmidt's formation and leadership of the High-z Supernova Search Team led to the discovery that the expansion of our universe is accelerating, for which he shared the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics. This discovery completely changed our understanding of the universe. It showed that about 70% of the mass of our Universe is in a previously unknown form which
6762-402: The previous decade, a small observatory being established there by Pietro Baracchi using the Oddie telescope located there in 1911. The dome built to house the Oddie telescope was the first Commonwealth building constructed in the newly established Australian Capital Territory . In 1911 a delegation for an Australian Solar Observatory went to London seeking Commonwealth assistance. The League of
6860-430: The region. Around 1825 James Ainslie , working on behalf of the wealthy merchant Robert Campbell , arrived to establish a sheep station. He was guided to the region by a local Aboriginal girl who showed him the fine lands of her Pialligo clan. The area then became the property of Campbell and it was initially named Pialligo before Campbell changed it to the Scottish title of Duntroon . Campbell and his family built
6958-428: The required territory as they did not accept the site. In 1906, the New South Wales Government finally agreed to cede sufficient land provided that it was in the Yass-Canberra region as this site was closer to Sydney. Newspaper proprietor John Gale circulated a pamphlet titled 'Dalgety or Canberra: Which?' advocating Canberra to every member of the Commonwealth's seven state and federal parliaments. By many accounts, it
7056-598: The seat of the Government of Australia , Canberra is home to many important institutions of the federal government, national monuments and museums. These include Parliament House , Government House , the High Court building and the headquarters of numerous government agencies. It is the location of many social and cultural institutions of national significance such as the Australian War Memorial ,
7154-466: The side of the majority of the board with the design by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin of Chicago , Illinois , United States , being declared the winner. Second was Eliel Saarinen of Finland and third was Alfred Agache of Brazil but resident in Paris, France. O'Malley then appointed a six-member board to advise him on the implementation of the winning design. On 25 November 1912,
7252-408: The southwestern end of the land axis was Bimberi Peak , the highest mountain in the ACT, approximately 52 km (32 mi) south west of Canberra. The straight edge of the circular segment that formed the central basin of Lake Burley Griffin was perpendicular to the land axis and designated the water axis, and it extended northwest towards Black Mountain . A line parallel to the water axis, on
7350-788: The summit of Mount Ainslie. Other notable features include the National Arboretum , born out of the 2003 Canberra bushfires , and Lake Burley Griffin , named for Walter Burley Griffin. Highlights in the annual calendar of cultural events include Floriade , the largest flower festival in the Southern Hemisphere, the Enlighten Festival , Skyfire , the National Multicultural Festival and Summernats . Canberra's main sporting venues are Canberra Stadium and Manuka Oval . The city
7448-664: The vicinity. The Canberry or Nganbra clan lived mostly around Sullivan's Creek and had ceremonial grounds at the base of Galambary ( Black Mountain ), while the Pialligo clan had land around what is now Canberra Airport . The people living here carefully managed and cultivated the land with fire and farmed yams and hunted for food. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the region includes inhabited rock shelters, rock paintings and engravings, burial places, camps and quarry sites as well as stone tools and arrangements. Artefacts suggests early human activity occurred at some point in
7546-498: The war ended. The urban areas of Canberra are organised into a hierarchy of districts, town centres, group centres, local suburbs as well as other industrial areas and villages. There are seven residential districts, each of which is divided into smaller suburbs, and most of which have a town centre which is the focus of commercial and social activities. The districts were settled in the following chronological order: Brian Schmidt Brian Paul Schmidt (born 24 February 1967)
7644-444: The war the workshops contributed to the war effort by producing gun sights , and other optical equipment. After the war, the observatory shifted direction to stellar and galactic astronomy and was renamed The Commonwealth Observatory. Dr R. Wooley Director of the Observatory, worked to gain support for a larger reflector, arguing that the southern hemisphere should attempt to compete with the effectiveness of American telescopes. The ANU
7742-467: The west by the Brindabellas which create a strong rain shadow in Canberra's valleys. Canberra gets 100.4 clear days annually. Annual rainfall is the third lowest of the capital cities (after Adelaide and Hobart ) and is spread fairly evenly over the seasons, with late spring bringing the highest rainfall. Thunderstorms occur mostly between October and April, owing to the effect of summer and
7840-680: The western and eastern edges of the central basin. The area enclosed by the three avenues was known as the Parliamentary Triangle , and formed the centrepiece of Griffin's work. The Griffins assigned spiritual values to Mount Ainslie, Black Mountain, and Red Hill and originally planned to cover each of these in flowers. That way each hill would be covered with a single, primary colour which represented its spiritual value. This part of their plan never came to fruition, as World War I slowed construction and planning disputes led to Griffin's dismissal by Prime Minister Billy Hughes after
7938-458: The wife of Governor-General Lord Denman , announced that the city would be named "Canberra" at a ceremony at Kurrajong Hill, which has since become Capital Hill and the site of the present Parliament House . Canberra Day is a public holiday observed in the ACT on the second Monday in March to celebrate the founding of Canberra. After the ceremony, bureaucratic disputes hindered Griffin's work;
8036-483: The world's best cities to live in and visit. Although the Commonwealth Government remains the largest single employer in Canberra, it is no longer the majority employer. Other major industries have developed in the city, including in health care, professional services, education and training, retail, accommodation and food, and construction. Compared to the national averages, the unemployment rate
8134-500: Was accelerating , contrary to expectations. This universal acceleration implies the existence of dark energy and was named the top science breakthrough of 1998 by Science magazine. In 2011, Brian P. Schmidt shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Saul Perlmutter and Adam Riess for such observations which provided evidence for the accelerating Universe. The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey , co-led by Matthew Colless, undertook
8232-412: Was 44.0 °C (111.2 °F) on 4 January 2020. Winter 2011 was Canberra's warmest winter on record, approximately 2 °C (4 °F) above the average temperature. The lowest recorded minimum temperature was −10.0 °C (14.0 °F) on the morning of 11 July 1971. Light snow falls only once in every few years, and is usually not widespread and quickly dissipates. Canberra is protected from
8330-422: Was 466,566. The area chosen for the capital had been inhabited by Aboriginal Australians for up to 21,000 years, by groups including the Ngunnawal and Ngambri . European settlement commenced in the first half of the 19th century, as evidenced by surviving landmarks such as St John's Anglican Church and Blundells Cottage . On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies of Australia was achieved. Following
8428-455: Was a postdoctoral research Fellow at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (1993–1994) before moving on to the ANU 's Mount Stromlo Observatory in 1995. In 1994, Schmidt and Nicholas B. Suntzeff formed the High-Z Supernova Search Team to measure the expected deceleration of the universe and the deceleration parameter (q0) using distances to Type Ia supernovae . In 1995,
8526-420: Was a lot of routine. But I guess I was just a little naive about what being a meteorologist meant." His decision to study astronomy, which he had seen as "a minor pastime", was made just before he enrolled at university. Even then, he was not fully committed: he said "I'll do astronomy and change into something else later", and just never made that change. He graduated with a BS (Physics) and BS (Astronomy) from
8624-482: Was also found nearly simultaneously by the Supernova Cosmology Project , led by Saul Perlmutter . The corroborating evidence between the two competing studies led to the acceptance of the accelerating universe theory and initiated new research to understand the nature of the universe, such as the existence of dark energy . The discovery of the accelerating universe was named 'Breakthrough of
8722-720: Was boycotted by the Royal Institute of British Architects , the Institution of Civil Engineers and their affiliated bodies throughout the British Empire because the Minister for Home Affairs King O'Malley insisted that the final decision was for him to make rather than an expert in city planning. A total of 137 valid entries were received. O'Malley appointed a three-member board to advise him but they could not reach unanimity. On 24 May 1911, O'Malley came down on
8820-601: Was built to educate local settlers children, including the Blundell children who lived in nearby Blundell's Cottage . As the European presence increased, the Indigenous population dwindled largely due to the destruction of their society, dislocation from their lands and from introduced diseases such as influenza , smallpox , alcoholism and measles . The district's change from a rural area in New South Wales to
8918-455: Was built. A survey was conducted across several sites in New South Wales with Bombala , southern Monaro , Orange , Yass , Albury , Tamworth , Armidale , Tumut and Dalgety all discussed. Dalgety was chosen by the federal parliament and it passed the Seat of Government Act 1904 confirming Dalgety as the site of the nation's capital. However, the New South Wales government refused to cede
9016-422: Was consecrated in 1845 and is now the oldest surviving public building in the city. St John's churchyard contains the earliest graves in the district. It has been described as a "sanctuary in the city", remaining a small English village-style church even as the capital grew around it. Canberra's first school, St John's School (now a museum), was situated next to the church and opened in the same year of 1845. It
9114-558: Was decisive in the selection of Canberra as the site in 1908 as was a result of survey work done by the government surveyor Charles Scrivener . The NSW government ceded the district to the federal government in 1911 and the Federal Capital Territory was established. An international design competition was launched by the Department of Home Affairs on 30 April 1911, closing on 31 January 1912. The competition
9212-418: Was established in 1946 in nearby Canberra and joint staff appointments and graduate studies were almost immediately undertaken. A formal amalgamation took place in 1957, with Mount Stromlo Observatory becoming part of the Department of Astronomy in the Research School of Physical Sciences at ANU, leading eventually to the formation of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics in 1986. On 18 January 2003,
9310-514: Was formed on what is now the Acton Peninsula by James Cowan, the head stockman employed by Joshua John Moore . Moore had received a land grant in the region in 1823 and formally applied to purchase the site on 16 December 1826. He named the property "Canberry". On 30 April 1827, Moore was told by letter that he could retain possession of 1,000 acres (405 ha) at Canberry. Other colonists soon followed Moore's example to take up land in
9408-649: Was given a three-year appointment to sit on the Questacon Advisory Council. As of March 2017, Schmidt serves as a member of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists ' Board of Sponsors. On 24 June 2015 it was announced Schmidt would replace Ian Young as the 12th Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National University , to commence his tenure on 1 January 2016. The Chancellor of the ANU, Professor Gareth Evans , said, "Brian Schmidt
9506-562: Was the 24th Meeting of ANZAAS in January 1939. The Canberra Times described it as "a signal event ... in the history of this, the world's youngest capital city". The city's accommodation was not nearly sufficient to house the 1,250 delegates and a tent city had to be set up on the banks of the Molonglo River. One of the prominent speakers was H. G. Wells , who was a guest of the Governor-General Lord Gowrie for
9604-512: Was the Griffin plan which was ultimately proceeded with. In 1913, Walter Burley Griffin was appointed Federal Capital Director of Design and Construction and construction began. On 23 February, King O'Malley drove the first peg in the construction of the future capital city. In 1912, the government invited suggestions from the public as to the name of the future city. Almost 750 names were suggested. At midday on 12 March 1913, Lady Denman ,
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