Melbourne telescope. Engraving of the Melbourne Telescope, one of the earliest large telescopes in the Southern Hemisphere. Built in 1868, this telescope was built as a result of an 1849 plan for a Southern Hemisphere telescope. It was designed and built by Grubb in Dublin, Ireland, and focused light using a mirror with a diameter of 1.2 metres. It was tested successfully in Ireland but was a failure when installed in Australia. It was over-sensitive to vibrations and the mirror was ruined when the protective coating used during shipment was removed. The telescope's failure was described as one of the greatest calamities in the history of astronomy"."