PUBLIC CONTRIBUTIONS

  • Meet the team: Dr Christian Hettlage   After studying at the University of Göttingen in Germany, Christian came to Cape Town in 2006 for three months in order to help......

    22 September, 2017

  • Black is the new orange   Image credit: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss Outer space looks black, at least relative to our eyes, but it wasn’t always the case! Straight after the big bang, the......

    22 September, 2017

  • Getting to know SALT astronomer, Dr Rosalind Skelton   Dr Rosalind Skelton, known to all as Ros, has been part of the SALT Astronomy team for just over a year.......

    19 September, 2017

  • Measuring the twinkling of the stars…   Image credit: Dr Tim-Oliver Husser. The closed ox-wagon encases the massdimm telescope, which has the sole task of measuring the twinkling of the stars.......

    19 September, 2017

  • Getting to know the SALT team: Astronomer Dr Rudi Kuhn It all started with a small boy having a big dream Dr Rudi Kuhn was only five years old when his......

    22 August, 2017

  • Stellar magnitude   The brightnesses of stars and other astronomical bodies are measured on the magnitude scale. For historical reasons the fainter the star the higher the magnitude assigned to......

    21 October, 2016

  • Observatory Outreach Initiative in Sutherland: “Help a Girl”   The Observatory has established a relationship with the Sutherland community and hopes to make a difference in the schools there (as......

    06 October, 2016

  • An exercise in astrophotography   Marko Plavetić is an amateur astrophotographer from Croatia, studying chemistry at the University of Zagreb. Above are some examples of the photography which he has......

    19 September, 2016

  • From insurance to the stars   Marissa Kotze is one woman who loves what she does. Making the drastic shift from working in the insurance industry to studying astronomy and......

    18 September, 2016

  • Scientific writing internship in Cape Town   For students interested in a writing internship focusing on astronomy and the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT). The internship will be based at......

    01 September, 2016

  • Accretion disk echo mapping of high red-shift quasars The title is a mouthful, here is a break-down of what it means and what research SALT is doing, courtesy of SALT......

    14 July, 2015

  • Observatory IT Department “It is not only astronomers and scientists who work at the Observatory, computer nerds are welcome too!” – IT Department. Leadership positions in any career field are often......

    14 July, 2015

  • Learning about planetary nebulae   Galactic phenomena’s that make the rainbow seem like yesterday’s news are a mystery to the optical eye. There are many sites on the wide world......

    04 April, 2015

  • Ultra Cool Dwarf Stars & Luhman 16   In 2013, an astronomer at the Pennsylvania State University, Kevin Luhman, discovered a binary of brown dwarf stars 6.2 Light years away......

    04 April, 2015

  • Binary Star Systems for the Humanities Student   Some of the interesting observations being done at SALT include the observations of a close binary system. Are you unfamiliar with the......

    04 April, 2015

  • New Horizons for SALT   The excitement is palpable as New Horizons draws near to its destination. An interplanetary probe aptly named New Horizons was launched on the 19th of......

    04 March, 2015

  • SAAO/SALT Outreach Programme   When it comes to highly scientific technologies that enhance our knowledge of the stars and other planetary phenomenon’s, its easy to get lost in all the......

    01 March, 2015