King Edward Point Magnetic Observatory

On the remote sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, at the foot of Mount Duse, the King Edward Point Magnetic Observatory keeps a constant watch on Earth's magnetic field from one of the planet's most isolated inhabited outposts.

About King Edward Point Magnetic Observatory

The observatory is operated by the British Geological Survey in cooperation with the British Antarctic Survey and the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It forms part of INTERMAGNET, the global network of magnetic observatories, and fills a significant gap in that network's coverage of the South Atlantic Anomaly, a region where Earth's magnetic field is unusually weak.

History

A predecessor observatory was run at King Edward Point by the British Antarctic Survey from 1975 to 1982, but it was damaged and abandoned following the 1982 Falklands conflict. The current facility opened in February 2011, re-establishing continuous magnetic monitoring at the site.

Telescopes & research

Rather than telescopes, the observatory's key instrument is a tri-axial linear-core fluxgate magnetometer, manufactured by the Danish Meteorological Institute, which continuously measures the horizontal (H), vertical (Z) and declination (D) components of the local magnetic field.

Location & getting there

King Edward Point sits at the base of Mount Duse on South Georgia, a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic known for its extreme remoteness, glaciers and wildlife. Travel here is limited to specialist expedition vessels and research logistics; there is no scheduled public transport to the island.

See your named star from here

South Georgia's dark, unpolluted skies are a striking backdrop for stargazing, even though this particular facility studies the Earth rather than the stars. If you'd like a star of your own, name one with Star Register and find its coordinates in our star catalogue for viewing wherever your travels take you.