Tebbutt vs Russell: passion, power and politics in nineteenth century Australian astronomy

Abstract

During the second half of the nineteenth century Henry Chamberlain Russell and John Tebbutt were Australia's foremost astronomers. Russell was the Government Astronomer of New South Wales and director of the Sydney Observatory, while Tebbutt, an amateur astronomer, maintained a private observatory at nearby Windsor (for localities mentioned in the text see Figure 1). Initially Russell and Tebbutt collaborated closely, but there was a breakdown in relations during the 18808 and by 1891 they were openly feuding, forcing many leading Australian astronomers to take "sides". When the feud erupted on the pages of rile Observatory, it became an international issue. The Russell-Tebbutt feud only ended with Russell's death in 1907.