Astronomy
"Poets say science takes away from the
beauty of the stars - mere globs of gas atoms.
I, too, can
see the stars on a desert night, and feel them. But do I see
less or more?"
- Richard P. Feynman
Astronomy
Astronomers explore the universe by detecting the electromagnetic radiation and cosmic rays emitted by celestial objects. Different objects emit their radiation at different wavelengths spanning from very short wavelength gamma rays, to X-rays, ultraviolet, visible light, infrared and long-wavelength radio waves. The earth's atmosphere shields us from much of this radiation, so modern astronomy is done from large optical and infrared telescopes on high mountains. Radio telescopes must be situated in remote, 'radio quiet' areas, far from man-made radio interference. Certain wavelengths are totally blocked by the earth's atmosphere and can only be studied from space using orbiting satellite observatories.
South African astronomers are fortunate to have access to some of the
largest facilities for astronomy in the world.
The Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) at Sutherland in the Northern Cape is the largest single
optical telescope in the southern hemisphere, while in neighbouring Namibia the High Energy
Stereoscopic System (HESS), an array of gamma-ray telescopes, will be the largest such facility in the
world. South Africa is also bidding to host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), arguably the most
important and most exciting project proposed for radio astronomy in the past 50 years.
The SKA is a $1 billion international project to create a receiving surface of a million square metres,
one hundred times larger than the biggest receiving surface now in existence.
South Africa
would be the ideal location for the SKA owing to its location and the record of accomplishment to
build, host and support such large-scale facilities. The momentum built up around the SKA bid has also
created interest in the possibility of South Africa hosting a Deep Space Network station to track and
support interplanetary spacecraft on their journeys across the solar system. South Africa already has a
rich heritage of supporting solar system exploration at its Hartebeesthoek station and the adjacent CSIR
Satellite Applications Centre.
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