SONG-Australia at the University of Southern Queensland
Wittenmyer, R.

Abstract

I introduce the newest SONG node, under construction in Australia at the University of Southern Queensland's Mount Kent Observatory. Located at 28 degrees South, SONG-Australia will be able to observe most Northern targets as well as contributing additional longitude coverage in concert with the Tenerife and China nodes. The site is prepared with an environmentally-controlled spectrograph room, and sites for up to six 1-metre-class telescopes. SONG-Australia is designed on a "MINERVA" model (MINiature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array), whereby fibres from multiple small telescopes feed a single high-resolution spectrograph identical to that at Tenerife. This approach provides expandability and reduces cost by using factory-built components that have been well-tested by the MINERVA teams. As a result of these innovations, SONG-Australia is expected to be fully operational by late 2019.