The Monash Observatory at Mt Burnett (approx 40 km east of Melbourne) was established in the early 1970’s by Monash University. Originally overseen by the Science Faculty, it soon became a field station of the Physics Department, and has been operated and maintained by Departmental staff (academic and technical) and research students.
Multicolour photoelectric photometry of selected southern variable stars has been carried out since the mid-1970’s, using single channel instruments. The observatory is a small installation, both in terms of instrumentation and staff numbers. However, a variety of work has been undertaken. In the specific area of long term photometric studies of a small number of stars the work of the Observatory has been well received both nationally and internationally. The Observatory has also been used in the astronomy teaching programs of the Physics Department.
