Brad Carter

Mt Kent Observatory: A Queensland Facility for Stellar Astronomy and Planetary Systems Research

The University of Southern Queensland operates Mt Kent Observatory to support international collaborative projects in stellar astronomy and planetary systems research, alongside some space research and support for student education and training. The site hosts an array of telescopes including multiple PlaneWave Instruments 0.7m CDK700s, a 0.5m CDK20 telescope, and other instruments. Research projects on site include the MINERVA-Australis follow-up of NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission, the Shared Skies Partnership with the University of Louisville in the USA providing dual-longitude, all-sky coverage, SONG telescopes for asteroseismology, a Global Fireball Observatory meteor camera, and a DLR SMARTnet geostationary space debris survey telescope. More recently Mt Kent Observatory has been used for optical photometry and spectroscopy supporting a coordinated multi-wavelength campaign studying stellar activity and exoplanetary space weather, and further such work is planned.