The Southern African Large Telescope

Exploring the Universe and inspiring society for 20 years

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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This month marks a major milestone for South African and global astronomy — the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) celebrates 20 years since its inauguration on 10 November 2005. As......

The SALT Annual Report 2024 (also available as a high resolution pdf) includes science highlights, an introduction to the SALT partners, operations news and feedback on outreach & education....

The SALT Annual Report 2023 (also available as a high resolution pdf) includes science highlights, an introduction to the SALT partners, operations news and feedback on outreach & education....

The SALT Annual Report 2022 (also available as a high resolution pdf) includes science highlights, an introduction to the SALT partners, operations news and feedback on outreach & education....

The Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) and the University of Canterbury’s Mount John Observatory in New Zealand have recently discovered a system of four stars orbiting each other. After initially......

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Publications

Scientific papers using data produced by SALT.

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