- Telescope sessions
- Special events
- School holidays
- Historic buildings and grounds
- Exhibits
- 3D space theatre
- Beanbag planetarium
- Flagstaff
- Time ball
- Eclipse/astronomy tour 2010
TIME BALL
Sydney Observatory’s original function was to calculate the correct time from the movement of the stars. Before the Observatory was built, there was no accurate time standard in Sydney.
The time ball on the tower signalled the time to ships and to the post office in Martin Place. The time ball is still raised to the top of its post and dropped at exactly 1pm every day.
Originally, there was also a cannon blast fired to accompany the dropping of the time ball to provide a sound as well as a visual notification that it was 1pm.
