The 110-year-old telescope in the Hawera observatory has a new lease on life. Just returned from a full renovation in Wellington, the five inch (12.7cm) Thomas Cooke refractor telescope is again mounted under the dome in King Edward Park.
The gleaming polished brass of the telescope and its many lenses are immediate testimony to the skill of the restorer, who has been working on the project since the telescope was dismounted in early September.
Members of the astronomical society say there is also a new clarity of vision through the cleaned and repolished lenses.
The telescope and equatorial (its intricate mounting mechanism) were originally the property of a pioneer Taranaki astronomer, the late A W Burrell of Stratford and were gifted to the then Borough of Hawera by his son. They were installed in the observatory, built in place of the park's band rotunda, in 1953.
In preparation for the telescope's return, council parks staff repaired and repainted the inside of the observatory and its dome. The observatory and its telescope were big attractions at this year's Arts in the Park.
