Telescopes

The Shared Skies Partnership uses the resources of Moore Observatory in Kentucky, Mt. Kent Observatory in Queensland, Australia, and our telescope at Steward Observatory's Mt. Lemmon site. With similar instrumentation available in opposite hemispheres and different latitudes, we have access to the southern and northern skies, with nearly continuous coverage in time of the sky near the equator, and complete coverage of the sky in the course of a day.

Moore Observatory

Moore Observatory is home to several instruments available for education and research:

CDK20 North A 0.5 meter (20-inch) diameter corrected Dall-Kirkham telescope on a high precision German equatorial mounting for remote and automated imaging and photometry.

Nikon A fast f/1.4 85 mm focal length wide field color camera co-mounted with other telescopes offering real-time imaging of stars and solar system objects to 15th magnitude. It is available on the CDK20N telescope.

Azari A 0.5 meter (20-inch) Ritchie-Chretien telescope on a fast tracking alt-azimuth mount is used for rapid imaging of transient events. It was a gift from Daniel Azari.

Star A 14 centimeter apochromatic telescope for hands-on observing an color imaging by students and visitors. This telescope and its mount was also a gift from Daniel Azari.

MORC A 0.6 meter (24-inch) Ritchie-Chretien reflector on an equatorial fork mounting for spectroscopy, precision time series photometry, and imaging.

FSQ North A fast (f/5) wide flat field (4°) 10.6 centimeter diameter apochromatic Petzval astrograph providing photometry and imaging down to 18th magnitude. It is mounted in on the MORC

Mt. Kent Observatory

Mt. Kent observatory has three instruments of ours in operation in addition to our partnership in Minerva Australis:

CDK20 South A 0.5 meter (20 inch) diameter corrected Dall-Kirkham twin to the telescope at Moore Observatory. Located in the Sirius dome at Mt. Kent on a Planewave A200HR mounting, it is used primarily for photometry and color imaging.

FSQ South A fast (f/5) wide flat field (4°) 10.6 centimeter diameter apochromatic Petzval astrograph providing photometry and imaging down to 18th magnitude. It is the southern companion to FSQ North, and mounted on a Paramount in the middle enclosure at Mt. Kent.

CDK700 A 0.7 meter (27 inch) corrected Dall-Kirkham telescope on a Nasmyth mount. The telescope and its enclosure are currently undergoing final development for automated time series photometry and spectroscopy of stars by advanced students in the astronomy programs of the Universities of Louisville and Southern Queensland.

Mt. Lemmon

ULMT A 0.6 meter (24-inch) Ritchie-Chretien reflector on an equatorial fork mounting for precision time series photometry, and imaging. It was a gift from Mark Manner.