Zadko Observatory is an
astronomical observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...
(
obs. code:
D20) located within the Wallingup Plain in the
Gingin shire, Western Australia. It is owned and operated by the
University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...
.
History
The Zadko Observatory was created in 2008 to host the Zadko Telescope, a 1.0m instrument donated to the University of Western Australia by James Zadko, CEO of Claire Energy. It was then expanded to fit several other instruments in 2011. The Observatory is located close to the Australian Interferometer Gravitational Observatory. The original construction cost AUD 1 million.
Observations are performed robotically every night, and have led to various important results, such as the observation of the first detected counterpart of a gravitational wave source, GW170817.
Instruments
The observatory operates one robotic 1.0-metre Cassegrain telescope for scientific studies. In addition, the observatory hosts three instruments devoted to student researches and several instruments operated by private companies.
See also
*
List of astronomical observatories
This is a list of astronomical observatories ordered by name, along with initial dates of operation (where an accurate date is available) and location. The list also includes a final year of operation for many observatories that are no longer in ...
References
External links
Zadko Observatory official website{{Portal bar, Western Australia, Australia, Physics, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System, Education, Science
Astronomical observatories in Western Australia