Mount Kent Observatory
| Organization | University of Southern Queensland | ||||||||||||||
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| Observatory code | E22 | ||||||||||||||
| Location | Mount Kent, near Nobby, Queensland, Australia | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 27°47′52″S 151°51′19″E / 27.7977°S 151.8554°E | ||||||||||||||
| Altitude | 682 m (2,238 ft) | ||||||||||||||
| Telescopes | |||||||||||||||
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  Location of Mount Kent Observatory | |||||||||||||||
| Mount Kent | |
|---|---|
  Mount Kent Location in Queensland | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 682 m (2,238 ft) |
| Coordinates | 27°47′52″S 151°51′19″E / 27.7977°S 151.8554°E |
| Geography | |
| Location | Nobby, Queensland, Australia |
Mount Kent Observatory near
It is also used for teaching USQ students, and is part of a 'Shared Skies Partnership' with the University of Louisville's Moore Observatory, Kentucky.
History
In the 1980s a dark sky site was established at Mount Kent and used for teaching purposes by USQ.[1] By 2009 the facilities had grown to include three telescopes: the Webb, O'Mara, and Louisville telescopes.
The observatory was significantly expanded beginning in 2016 with the establishment of MINERVA-Australis, funded by USQ, the Federal Government, the Australian Research Council, the University of New South Wales and the University of Sydney.[2] It was opened by Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews and USQ Vice-Chancellor Professor Geraldine Mackenzie in March 2019.[3]
The asteroid 11927 Mount Kent, which was discovered in 1993, is named after the observatory.
Telescopes
- MINERVA-Australis is an array of four 0.7 m (2 ft 4 in) telescopes and a radial-velocity spectrograph for exoplanet science, established beginning in 2018.[2] It is primarily used for ground-based observational follow-up for the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The telescope is operated by USQ and funded by the Australian Research Council and a consortium of research-intensive universities in Australia and overseas.
- SONG - the Stellar Oscillations Network Group - has a high resolution spectrograph fed by two 0.7 m (2 ft 4 in) telescopes, used primarily for asteroseismology and stellar physics. It is part of a network with telescopes in Tenerife and China.
- The Webb Telescope is a 40 cm (16 in) Meade LX200 telescope in a 6.5 m (21 ft) fibreglass dome. It is used for student field nights.
- The O’Mara Telescope is named after the late Mt Kent Observatory pioneer Dr Jim O’Mara (of the University of Queensland). It is a robotic telescope with 30 cm (12 in) Meade optics and a CCD camera, and is housed in an octagonal enclosure designed by Jim O’Mara. It automatically serves remote imaging requests from USQ students.
- The Louisville Telescope has 0.5 m (1 ft 8 in) Planewave Instruments CDK-20 optics as part of the Shared Skies Partnership with the University of Louisville. It is set up for live remote observing.
- The FUT (SONG) Telescope has 0.6 m (2 ft 0 in) Planewave Instruments CDK-600 optics used as a research and outreach telescope by the Aarhus University and the SONG team.
- The USQ-Louisville Telescope has 0.3 m (1 ft 0 in) Planewave Instruments RC-12.5 optics as a teaching and research robotic photometry telescope.
Discoveries
MINERVA-Australis was used in the discovery of TOI-257b, a rare 'sub-Saturn' planet lying between super-Earths and giant planets.[4][5]
See also
- Australian Astronomical Observatory (AAO)
- University of Southern Queensland (USQ)
- List of astronomical observatories
- Lists of telescopes
References
- ^ Carter, Brad; Duncan, Roy; Hart, Rhodes; Kielkopf, John; Sinclair, Scott; Waite, Ian (January 2009). "Mt Kent Observatory: A Queensland Facility for Astronomy Distance Education" (PDF). Australian Physics. 46 (1): 16. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- ^ a b Bradfield, Elly (17 August 2016). "Queensland astronomers join search for Earth-like planets". ABC News.
- ^ "USQ at forefront of planet discoveries with Mount Kent Observatory expansion - University of Southern Queensland". www.usq.edu.au.
- ^ Layt, Stuart (22 January 2020). "New exoplanet of unusual size discovered by Queensland astronomers". Brisbane Times.
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