Pietro Baracchi

Australian astronomer

Pietro Paolo Giovanni Ernesto Baracchi (1851–1926) was an Italian astronomer.[1] He moved to Australia in the 1870s and worked at the Melbourne Observatory. In 1910 the Australian government asked him to find a suitable place for an observatory in the new Australian Capital Territory.[1] Barrachi set up a small observatory on Mount Stromlo in May 1911. This was the first government building in Canberra and was the beginning of the Mount Stromlo Observatory. The observatory had a 9-inch (23 cm) telescope, donated by Ballarat gold miner, James Oddie.[1]

References change

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Perdrix, J. L. (1979). "Baracchi, Pietro Paolo Giovanni Ernesto (1851–1926)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 8 October 2011 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.