Shared Skies

Mt. Kent Observatory History

Mt. Kent Observatory in 2005
Mt. Kent Observatory with its telescope enclosures and main building in 2005.

In the 1980's, the University of Southern Queensland developed its dark sky site for teaching and research at Mt. Kent, near Toowoomba, Australia. Within 30 minutes of the campus, the location provides a modest altitude isolated for local lighting, and even nearly a half century later continues to offer inspiring views of the southern Milky Way.

The Educational Development Group donated a building, and by 2009 the Mt. Kent Observatory had three telescopes and was offereing remotely accessible astronomy to regional and international students.

The following is a placeholder for an overview.