Mount Kent Observatory

Mount Kent Observatory near Toowoomba, in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia, is an observatory owned and operated by the University of Southern Queensland (USQ). It is the only professional astronomical research observatory in the state of Queensland. Mount Kent hosts the six MINERVA-Australis exoplanet-finding telescopes, and two SONG telescopes for asteroseismology and stellar astrophysics.

Mount Kent Observatory
OrganizationUniversity of Southern Queensland
Observatory codeE22
LocationMount Kent, near Nobby, Queensland, Australia
Coordinates27.7977°S 151.8554°E / -27.7977; 151.8554
Altitude682 m (2,238 ft)
Telescopes
MINERVA-Australis6x 0.7 m (2 ft 4 in) equatorial mount
Stellar Oscillations Network Group (SONG)2x 0.7 m (2 ft 4 in)
Webb Telescope40 cm (16 in) Meade LX200
O'Mara Telescope30 cm (12 in) Meade
Louisville Telescope0.5 m (1 ft 8 in) Planewave Instruments CDK-20
Mount Kent
Mount Kent
Location in Queensland
Highest point
Elevation682 m (2,238 ft)
Coordinates27.7977°S 151.8554°E / -27.7977; 151.8554 
Geography
LocationNobby, Queensland, Australia

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 six 0.7 m (2 ft 4 in) telescopes and a radial-velocity spectrograph for exoplanet science, established beginning in 2016.[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 - is in the process of installing 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.

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]

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See also

References
  1. 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.
  2. Bradfield, Elly (17 August 2016). "Queensland astronomers join search for Earth-like planets". ABC News.
  3. "USQ at forefront of planet discoveries with Mount Kent Observatory expansion - University of Southern Queensland". www.usq.edu.au.
  4. Layt, Stuart (22 January 2020). "New exoplanet of unusual size discovered by Queensland astronomers". Brisbane Times.
  5. Addison, Brett C.; Wright, Duncan J.; Nicholson, Belinda A.; Cale, Bryson; Mocnik, Teo; Huber, Daniel; Plavchan, Peter; Wittenmyer, Robert A.; Vanderburg, Andrew; Chaplin, William J.; Chontos, Ashley; Clark, Jake T.; Eastman, Jason D.; Ziegler, Carl; Brahm, Rafael; Carter, Bradley D.; Clerte, Mathieu; Espinoza, Néstor; Horner, Jonathan; Bentley, John; Kane, Stephen R.; Kielkopf, John F.; Laychock, Emilie; Mengel, Matthew W.; Okumura, Jack; Stassun, Keivan G.; Bedding, Timothy R.; Bowler, Brendan P.; Burnelis, Andrius; Collins, Michaela; Crossfield, Ian; Davis, Allen B.; Evensberget, Dag; Heitzmann, Alexis; Howell, Steve B.; Law, Nicholas; Mann, Andrew W.; Marsden, Stephen; O'Connor, James; Shporer, Avi; Stevens, Catherine; Tinney, C. G.; Tylor, Christopher; Wang, Songhu; Zhang, Hui; Henning, Thomas; Kossakowski, Diana; Ricker, George; Sarkis, Paula; Vanderspek, Roland; Latham, David W.; Seager, Sara; Winn, Joshua N.; Jenkins, Jon M.; Mireles, Ismael; Rowden, Pam; Pepper, Joshua; Daylan, Tansu; Schlieder, Joshua E.; Collins, Karen A.; Collins, Kevin I.; Tan, Thiam-Guan; Ball, Warrick H.; Basu, Sarbani; Buzasi, Derek L.; Campante, Tiago L.; Corsaro, Enrico; González-Cuesta, Lucía; Davies, Guy R.; a, Rafael ~A ~Garcí; Guo, Zhao; Handberg, Rasmus; Hekker, Saskia; Hey, Daniel R.; Kallinger, Thomas; Kawaler, Steven D.; Kayhan, Cenk; Kuszlewicz, James S.; Lund, Mikkel N.; Lyttle, Alexander; Mathur, Savita; Miglio, Andrea; Mosser, Benoit; Nielsen, Martin B.; Serenelli, Aldo M.; Aguirre, Victor Silva; Themessl, Nathalie (21 January 2020). "TOI-257b (HD 19916b): A Warm sub-Saturn on a Moderately Eccentric Orbit Around an Evolved F-type Star". arXiv:2001.07345 [astro-ph.EP].


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