Measuring the stars and observing the less visible: Australia’s participation in the Astrographic Catalogue and Carte du Ciel

Abstract

Australia’s 1887 decision to participate in a major international astronomical project to produce an Astrographic (Star) Catalogue and Carte du Ciel (Chart of the Sky) ultimately involved Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth observatories. Participation in this project promised to bring international recognition of Australia’s capability in astronomy and access to the latest photographic technology and methods, within a network comprised of leading astronomers and observatories from around the globe. This was not a straightforward process; obtaining the resources required to successfully participate was fraught in terms of seeking support from governments that did not necessarily understand the significance of the projects, the lack of an appropriately trained workforce, and the sheer volume of work to catalogue the star-rich sky of the Southern Hemisphere. The challenges of participating in major and extensive international projects, during a period when astronomy within Australia wavered between state and federal control, were enormous. The techniques and technologies were not consolidated and often difficult to obtain, due to the impact of two world wars. Recessions and a major depression, along with colonial attitudes to science, made the resources required for progress at times unaffordable within meagre State Observatory budgets. The participating observatories have been examined through archival research to reveal not only the significance of this star catalogue to the development of astronomy in Australia, but the momentous and unacknowledged contribution made by women in its production. I have investigated the participation of seven women in the projects through in-depth interviews and primary sources, including log books of star positions and magnitudes and observation log books not previously recognised as their work. This thesis reveals the Astrographic Catalogue as pivotal to the introduction of women into paid astronomical work in Australia.«br /» The Astrographic Catalogue and Carte du Ciel are interrogated as products of colonialist ambitions to chart territory. Actor–network theory, centres of calculation and circulation models developed by sociology of science theorists, including Bruno Latour and Michel Callon, have been applied to analyse the control over the participating state observatories by colonial astronomy networks. My research has uncovered evidence of the interference of the Colonial Secretaries and Astronomers Royal, and the sometimes catastrophic impact of economic, social and political upheavals. This thesis argues that modernist ideals of automation and global standardisation provided momentum for the techniques of observation to change, and the eye of the astronomer was replaced by the eye of the human star measurer, predominantly women, who became the new point of contention at which individual variation occurred. I reveal that the involvement of women in Australia on the Astrographic Catalogue and Carte du Ciel was of greater significance than previously recognised; in addition, whilst they were restricted due to their gender, these women had agency in the scientific practice, workplace behaviour and employment conditions within the observatory. Furthermore, the creation of sex-specific roles in astronomy developed through the labour requirements of the large data sets for the Astrographic Catalogue, and the historical invisibility of women’s work in science, have had contemporary consequences for the status and participation of women in astronomy.