The Southern African Large Telescope

The largest single optical telescope in the southern hemisphere

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SALT is situated at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) field station near the small town of Sutherland, in the Northern Cape province, about 400 km from Cape Town. SALT is currently funded by a consortium of international partners from South Africa, the United States, Poland, India and the United Kingdom. The telescope has been in full science operation since 2011 and is realising its huge potential as Africa’s Giant Eye on the Universe.

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Press Releases

Stay informed about COVID-19

Please visit https://sacoronavirus.co.za for the latest information about the COVID-19 Corona Virus in South Africa. Stay safe!

We are happy to announce we are able to offer full tours once again.

Please note that from 1 March 2022, all individuals over 12 years old will be required to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19 to gain access to the SAAO facilities in both Cape Town and Sutherland. This is in keeping with the NRF Guidelines which strives to provide a safe working environment for all employees.

To book please visit: https://www.saao.ac.za/visit-sutherland/

Please email suthbookings@saao.ac.za or phone 076 900 0308 if you have any queries regarding bookings and tours for Sutherland.

The SALT Annual Report 2021 (also available as a high resolution pdf) includes science highlights, an introduction to the SALT partners, operations news and feedback on outreach & education....

12 April, 2022

The SALT Annual Report 2020 (also available as a high resolution pdf) includes science highlights, an introduction to the SALT partners, operations news and feedback on outreach & education....

18 September, 2021

Combined observations by eROSITA, the main instrument aboard the Spectrum-Röntgen-Gamma (SRG) satellite, and the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) have led to an important discovery.  Two apparently normal galaxies observed......

28 April, 2021

  At their November 2019 meeting in India, the SALT Board commissioned a study to explore the feasibility of pursuing the development of the SALT mini-tracker concept. The study report, along......

01 November, 2020

SALT’s Stategic Objectives The brochure outlines SALT’s strategic objectives ranging from enabling world-class science to driving human capital development....

04 September, 2020

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Scientific papers using data produced by SALT.

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