UTAS COSMIC RAY OBSERVATORY
A cosmic ray observatory was established at the Springs in 1956. At the time this was the highest point on the mountain with good road access and electrical power. The Observatory formed a crucial link in a network of observatories stretching from PNG to Antarctica. It was rebuilt after the 1967 fires but decomissioned in 2001.
“ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENON. -On Tuesday evening, some time after the sun, owing to the intervention of Mount Wellington, had apparently set, a beautiful rainbow threw its arch over the heavens. As the sun was much below the summit of the mountain, and the rainbow appeared to extend to the eastern horizon, the refraction, on which this phenomenon depends, must, from some cause, have bean greater than ordinary. The lurid appearance of the atmosphere, which accompanied it added considerably to the effect.”
“AURORA AUSTRALIS OVER THE MOUNTAIN. A show terminated by an expanding beam of intense crimson, which rose high towards the left of Mount Wellington.”
“GREAT COMET The comet has been on view throughout the week in the early evening hours. In Hobart, it is seen over the crest of Mount Wellington, just beyond the organ pipes, and is gradually decreasing in brilliants and clearness.”
Physicist McCracken writes: "This was what I did for my PhD in Tasmania: cosmic ray research. I was extremely fortunate in that the University of Tasmania is one of the leading laboratories in the world in the study of these sub-atomic strangers that wander into the solar system from outer space. I built lots of equipment. I installed some of it in New Guinea, some went to Antarctica, and I had my own cosmic ray laboratory half way up Mt. Wellington."
HERITAGE ASSESSMENT
In 2018 the Park’s Trust made the observatory (WPHH0417) a priority place for nomination to the Tasmanian Heritage Register.