Research programs at the Carter Observatory: an overview

An outline is given of the main research programmes currently in progress at the Carter Observatory. These include the establishment of a set of standard star magnitudes and colours in the Vilnius seven colour photometric system; the study of galactic and extragalactic star clusters using Vilnius and broadband photometries; binary stars and the development of APTs; and the history of Australasian astronomy. The role of Carter Observatory Honorary Research Associates is described and mention is made of the joint New Zealand/Japan programme to observe gravitational micro-lensing effects, discover variable stars and patrol selected clusters of galaxies for supernovae.