SALT - Southern African Large Telescope

SALT Science Instruments


To take maximum advantage of the huge light-gathering power of SALT, a suite of specialised first-generation instruments was conceived of to analyse the light brought to focus by the primary mirror. The nature of astronomical instruments is that they are mostly one-off designs tailored to a specific telescope or set of science objectives. For this reason, they are usually designed and built by astronomers and engineers working at observatories and universities rather than by industry. This was the case with SALT, and the science instruments were created in collaboration with other astronomical and research institutions in the SALT partnership.

  • *SALTICAM (SALT Imaging Camera)
  • *RSS (Robert Stobie Spectrograph; previously known as the Prime Focus Imaging Camera)
  • **HRS (High Resolution Spectrograph)
  • *BVIT(Berkeley Visible Imaging Tube)

*Currently off the telescope.

**Currently under construction.