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The largest telescope in the Southern Hemisphere...
a telescope so powerful that one could see a candle
flame on the moon. Is that a WOW! or what?
Seriously though, how would you like to see things you
have never seen before? Photos don't count! Heavenly
bodies that is only visible through a powerful
telescope?
Well, you came to the right place, then. Eighteen
kilometers outside Sutherland, on the road to Fraserburg
you will find the Observatory that contributed to make
Sutherland famous. Be like a kid again, become exited
over the wonders of nature. Be one with Creation by
watching what could only have been created by a Higher
Hand. See Saturn's rings from up close. See if you can
figure out why Mars is red. Maybe the sun would not seem
so far away when you look at it from here.
The Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) is the
largest single optical telescope in the southern
hemisphere, with a hexagonal mirror array 11 metres
across. SALT may be very similar to the Hobby-Eberly
Telescope in Texas, but what differentiates SALT is the
redesigned optical system that uses more of the mirror
array. It will be able to record distant stars, galaxies
and quasars a billion times too faint to be seen with
the unaided eye.
SALT was inspired by the Hobby-Eberly Telescope situated
at McDonald Observatory near Fort Davis, Texas. Most of
the technology used in Texas was also applied in SALT,
but many design changes have been implemented where it
proved faulty in HET. If you compare the Hobby-Eberly
Telescope (below), with the Southern African Large
Telescope, you will notice some marked differences, but
also huge similarities.
"I am honoured to welcome this historic occasion the
partners who combined to create this magnificent
instrument of learning, the Southern Africa Large
Telescope we commission today." A little over five years
after groundbreaking, President Thabo Mbeki officially
opened the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) on
the 10th of September 2005 with these words. And with
that historical opening the largest optical telescope in
the southern hemisphere, and equal to the largest in the
world, was officially operational.
SALT is truly representative of the century in which it
has been built. It is not only a sophisticated
computer-controlled precision instrument, but also an
Internet-age telescope. Astronomers in the consortium
don't need to travel to SALT to use it. Instead they
submit their observing requests over the Internet and
eventually, once the observations have been conducted by
the dedicated SALT scientific and technical staff, they
also receive their data over the Internet. In many
respects SALT operates more like a space-based telescope
such as CHANDRA or the Hubble Space Telescope, than like
other large telescopes based here on Earth.
Tours of the Observatory and SALT is available, but you
have to book, so call them on +27 23 571 1205 to reserve
your booking, or got to
South
African Astronomical Observatory for more detail. |
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