The Observatory houses a digital planetarium as well as an historic 93⁄4-inch Cooke refractor telescope, through which evening visitors can observe a variety of Solar System and deep-sky objects.

Parliament established the Carter Observatory in 1937; it opened in 1941, following some delays caused by the beginnings of World War II.

Research began with solar investigations, and when new staff joined during the 1970s it expanded to variable stars, galaxies, comets and asteroids.

Parliament officially repealed the Carter Observatory Act in 2010 and transferred the responsibilities of the site from the Crown to the Wellington City Council.

Not far from the main building, Space Place also manages the Thomas King Observatory, previously used by the Wellington Astronomical Society.

After Crossley’s death in 1905, the telescope was purchased by Reverend Dr David Kennedy and shipped to New Zealand, where it was installed at the Meeanee Observatory at the Marist Seminary near Napier.

Naval Observatory astronomers used photometric and visual data provided by New Zealand, Australian and Japanese observers to derive an improved value for the diameter of Neptune.

Once used for research at the Carter Observatory's outstation at Black Birch in the South Island, this telescope was later moved to the main premises in Wellington.

A grant from Pub Charity allowed improvements to the installation in December 2005: the Observatory had the dome motorised, and the telescope’s primary and secondary mirrors were re-aluminised.