Mount John University Observatory

University of Canterbury Mt John Observatory (UCMJO)
	UC Mount John Observatory at the top of Mount John
Organization	University of Canterbury
Observatory code	474
Location	Mackenzie District, South Island, New Zealand
Coordinates	43°59.2′S 170°27.9′E / 43.9867°S 170.4650°E
Altitude	1,029 metres (3,376 ft)
Weather	20% of nights photometric
Established	1965
Website	UC Mt John Observatory
Telescopes
MOA Telescope
MOA Telescope	1.8-metre
McLellan	1-metre
Optical Craftsmen	0.6-metre Cassegrain
Boller and Chivens	0.6-metre
Dark Sky Project	0.4-metre Meade
	Location of University of Canterbury Mt John Observatory (UCMJO)
	Related media on Commons
	[edit on Wikidata]

University of Canterbury Mount John Observatory (UCMJO), previously known as Mt John University Observatory (MJUO), is New Zealand's premier astronomical research observatory.^[1]^[2] It is situated at 1,029 metres (3,376 ft) ASL atop Mount John at the northern end of the Mackenzie Basin in the South Island, and was established in 1965.^[2] There are many telescopes on site including: one 0.4 metre, two 0.6 metre, one 1.0 metre, and a 1.8 metre MOA telescope. The nearest population centre is the resort town of Lake Tekapo (pop. >500). Approximately 20% of nights at UCMJO are photometric, with a larger number available for spectroscopic work and direct imaging photometry.

UCMJO is operated by the University of Canterbury, and is the home of HERCULES (High Efficiency and Resolution Canterbury University Large Echelle Spectrograph), and the observational wing of the Japanese/New Zealand MOA collaboration (Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics) led by Yasushi Muraki of Nagoya University. A Japanese funded, 1.8 metre telescope was used initially by the MOA Project, before handover to the University of Canterbury at the conclusion of the MOA Project in 2012.

In June 2012 an area of 430,000 hectares (1,700 sq mi) around the observatory was declared as the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve by the International Dark-Sky Association, one of only four such reserves around the world at that time.^[3] The area has a Bortle Scale of 2.^[4]

^ "Mt John Observatory: the first 50 years". Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania. 150 (1): 1–8. 2006. doi:10.26749/rstpp.150.1.1. ISSN 0080-4703.
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference ODT_tranquil was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference darksky-1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ An Application to the International Dark-Sky Association for a Starlight Reserve in the Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park and the Mackenzie Basin of the central South Island of New Zealand (PDF). Mackenzie District Council, University of Canterbury, Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand, Department of Conservation. 27 January 2012. p. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 February 2024.

[hearnshaw-1] "Mt John Observatory: the first 50 years". Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania. 150 (1): 1–8. 2006. doi:10.26749/rstpp.150.1.1. ISSN 0080-4703.

[ODT_tranquil-2] Cite error: The named reference ODT_tranquil was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[darksky-1-3] Cite error: The named reference darksky-1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[4] An Application to the International Dark-Sky Association for a Starlight Reserve in the Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park and the Mackenzie Basin of the central South Island of New Zealand (PDF). Mackenzie District Council, University of Canterbury, Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand, Department of Conservation. 27 January 2012. p. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 February 2024.

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