Facilities
Astronomical Facilities
The South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO)
is the national facility for optical and infared astronomy in
South Africa. The headquarters are in Observatory, Cape
Town, and the various telescopes, including the Southern
African Large Telescope (SALT), are at Sutherland in the Northern
Cape.
Tel. (021) 447 0025
Hartebeeshoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO)
operates a telescope 26 metres in diameter that
can detect radio waves emitted by many different kinds of
objects in the sky. HartRAO conducts a space geodesy
programme using the radio telescope, together with global
positioning equipment and a satellite laser ranger.
Tel. (012) 326 0742
The High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) consists of an array of four telescopes which can detect the light produced by gamma rays entering the atmosphere. HESS is located on the Khomas Hochland in Namibia.
Boyden Observatory, just outside
Bloemfontein, has several telescopes used for research and
educational purposes.
Tel. (051) 401 2924
Satellite Applications
CSIR Satellite Applications Centre (SAC)
at Hartebeeshoek provides tracking and control services for satellites and
support for a wide variety of satellite applications.
Tel. (012) 334 5000
The Institute for Satellite and Software Applications (ISSA)
is based at the Houwted satellite
integration facility in Grabouw. It offers post-graduate
qualifications in Engineering and Information &
Communication Technology. Excellent facilities are available
for designing and testing small satellites.
Tel. (021) 859 7300
Space Physics
The Hermanus Magnetic Observatory (HMO)
is part of an international network of magnetic
observatories which monitor and model changes in the Earth's
magnetic field.
Tel. (028) 312 1196
The South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP): South Africa has had a scientific base called SANAE in Antarctica since 1960. SANAE is an observatory to study the uper layers of the atmosphere, especially the ionosphere and the magnetosphere.
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