Telescopes

The Southern Skies project uses the resources of Mt. Kent Observatory in Queensland, Australia, and Moore Observatory in Kentucky, USA. There is similar instrumentation available at both sites. Since they are in opposite hemispheres and have access to the southern and northern skies, there is 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.

Star A 14 centimeter apochromatic telescope for hands-on observing an color imaging by students and visitors.

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.