Ian Griffin, The Oldest Telescope in New Zealand, Museum of Musings, 4 November 2025
How a retired astronomer in France, a forgotten box in a Dunedin storeroom, and a gleaming 18th-century telescope came together to rewrite a small piece of New Zealand’s astronomical history.
Every so often, the universe sends a slight surprise by email.
On 2 November 2016, a message arrived at Tūhura Otago Museum with the subject line: “Oldest telescope in New Zealand.” It came from Dr William Tobin, a retired astronomy professor living in Vannes, France.