Mount John University Observatory

The Mount John University Observatory ( MJUO ) is New Zealand's leading observatory. It was established in 1965 and is situated at 1029 meters above sea level in the northern part of the Mackenzie Basin in the South Island of New Zealand. The operator is the University of Canterbury, Christchurch. On the grounds of the observatory several telescopes HERCULES (High Efficiency and Resolution Canterbury University Large Echelle Spectrograph ) and the MOA Telescope are among them with a diameter of 1.8 meters. The MOA Telescope is the largest telescope in New Zealand. In addition, a cafe and accommodation for researchers are on the premises.

In June 2012, of International Dark Sky Association an area of ​​430,000 hectares to the observatory around the light protected area, the Mackenzie Aoraki International Dark Sky Reserve, explained. Guides to the observatory are possible of Lake Tekapo from.

Telescopes

MOA telescope

This telescope was commissioned in December 2004. It is a New Zealand - Japanese joint project which was built in cooperatin by the Universities of Canterbury, Aukland and Victoria and Nagoya University.

McLellan telescope

When McLellan telescope is a Dall - Kirkham telescope with a diameter of 1.0 m with an aperture value of f / 7.7 or f/18, 5 Photometric analyzes are performed via a CCD camera and the spectroscopy via fiber optic cable to the HERCULES spectrograph.

It is a reflecting telescope with a 61 cm diameter with an Apogee Alta CCD camera werden.Es usually carried out with the help of the photometric analysis works with either the F-number f/13, 5 or, more rarely, with f / 6.25.

Optical Craftsmen Telescope

This telescope is also a mirror telescope with a diameter of 61 cm. It has a fork mount and an f-stop of f/16. In contrast to the Boller & Chivens telescope photometric analysis is carried out exclusively by the CCD. Currently it is converted to automatic operation. After that, it will be the first AAVSO telescope incorporated in the southern hemisphere in the AAVSO Robotic Telescope Network.

Earth and Sky Telescope

This telescope is not used for scientific purposes, but is exclusively for the tourists. It is equipped with a 40 cm Meade LX200 telescope.

Discoveries

In 2008, the American Astronomical Society meeting their announced on that was found during the MOA - II survey of the smallest known planet outside our solar system. He was named the MOA -2007- BLG - 192Lb. The planet is located in the constellation Sagittarius and orbits about 3,300 light years from Earth, the brown dwarf MOA -2007- BLG - 192L.

Footnotes

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