University of Southern Queensland observatory

On the Darling Downs near Toowoomba, Queensland, the University of Southern Queensland operates Mount Kent Observatory, a working research site with a growing reputation in exoplanet science.

About University of Southern Queensland observatory

Known as Mount Kent Observatory, the dark-sky site was first established in the 1980s for teaching before expanding into serious research, most notably with the 2018 launch of the MINERVA-Australis facility.

History

The observatory began as a teaching site in the 1980s. Its research profile grew substantially with the establishment of MINERVA-Australis in 2018, positioning it as the only southern-hemisphere observatory wholly dedicated to following up NASA's TESS mission.

Telescopes & research

The site hosts five MINERVA-Australis exoplanet telescopes, three SONG asteroseismology telescopes, two Shared Skies telescopes, a USQ-Louisville telescope, and the SMARTnet space-debris monitoring facility operated with DLR. Through its Shared Skies Partnership with the University of Louisville's Moore Observatory in Kentucky, USQ researchers have confirmed roughly 30 planets, about 15% of all TESS discoveries to date, alongside asteroseismology and stellar astrophysics work.

Location & getting there

Mount Kent Observatory sits in the Darling Downs region near Toowoomba, Queensland, in inland eastern Australia.

Visiting University of Southern Queensland observatory

As an active research facility, access is generally arranged through the university; check UniSQ's website before planning a visit.

See your named star from here

Once you've named a star with Star Register, an observatory like this one can point a telescope at its exact coordinates. Find your star's position in our catalogue first.