If you have ever scrolled down the right-hand margin of my blog, you might have spotted a section called “Karoo Array Telescope (KAT-7)” beneath the following photograph of seven structures that look like high-tech satellite dishes pointing straight up at the sky. In case this has mystified you, I wanted to take a moment to…
Last week, hubby and a few colleagues from work spent some time in the Karoo at the site, where the dishes of the Karoo Array Telescope (KAT) – a telescope that will be used for radio astronomy – are being constructed and set up (see the story of our group visit to the site in…
On Monday morning, bright and early, we “rushed” down the N2 (or rather, as slowly as the early-morning commuter traffic allowed) to make it to the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Observatory, Cape Town, around 8h00. The sun was hiding behind a solid grey blanket of cloud, which fortunately did not release any rain.…
Background On 6 May 2009, four containers arrived at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Observatory, Cape Town. These weren’t just normal containers, though. These were very special containers: high-tech, RFI-shielded containers, especially designed and outfitted to accommodate all the complicated equipment that will be needed to control, operate and process the data from…
After lunch, we climbed back into our respective vehicles and drove along the recently constructed road to the site, where the first seven antenna dishes are being put up. Gerrit stopped briefly at a deliberately widened section of the road, which he called “ons telefoonhokkie” – it’s the only place in the area where you…
After I’d written that blog post about the arrival of the RFI-shielded containers at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Observatory on 06 May, I was asked by the SKA’s media department whether I would be willing to attend the informal function at the SAAO on Friday 29 May to celebrate the arrival of…
Tonight, we attended a public lecture by Prof Malcolm Longair (a very eminent British astronomer and cosmologist) (he even has his own Wikipedia entry) at the MTN Sciencentre at Canal Walk. It was the first time I’d been inside the Sciencentre, although we’d probably walked past it dozens of times. It was fantastic that the…
Yesterday, the morning sky was brilliantly blue and almost entirely free of clouds. It could hardly have been more perfect weather to watch the first solar eclipse of 2009, while welcoming in the International Year of Astronomy. It also happened to be the last big solar eclipse visible in the Western Cape, with approximately 65%…
Tonight, I saw Stephen Hawking live. What an awesome experience. The African Institute of Mathematics (AIMS), a fairly recently established centre for postgraduate study, had somehow managed to get an impressive group of highly respected Nobel laureate scientists to visit South Africa. We were lucky to get tickets for the event, which was hosted by…
This coming Sunday, 11 May 2008, Stephen Hawking is going to deliver his very first public lecture in South Africa. He has been invited by the African Institute of Mathematics, which is situated in Muizenberg. And we’ve got tickets! The director of AIMS, Professor Fritz Hahne said: “Hawking is thought of as the greatest mind in…
Grains of Sand 