- Address: Observatory Road, Observatory, 7925, South Africa;
- Phone: +27 21 447 0025;
- E-mail: enquiries@saao.ac.za;
- Website: http://www.saao.ac.za
If you have always dreamed of being in space, and the stars beckoned to you with their mystery, do not miss the amazing chance to get closer to them by visiting the South African Astronomical Observatory located in Sutherland (North Cape, South Africa ). It is part of the National Research Foundation of South Africa. This scientific center, one of the few, owns several codes issued by the Center for Small Planets: A60, B31, 051. He became the successor to the obsolete observatory of the Cape of Good Hope .
What is remarkable about the observatory?
This research center has been studying space and celestial bodies since the middle of the XIX century (the main building was erected in 1820). Among its sights:
- The oldest telescope is McClean, which has been operating since 1901;
- several photometric telescopes that allow studying planets, stars, asteroids, etc. at a considerable distance from our planet;
- telescopes, with which you can observe solar oscillations;
- A large South African telescope, which is the largest in the southern hemisphere (its size is 11 m). With its help, scientists learn a lot about the most distant galaxies, including the Magellanic clouds: the size and structure of celestial bodies, hundreds of thousands of kilometers from the Earth, cease to be a mystery.
In addition, the observatory is engaged not only in the identification and research of near-Earth objects: it creates innovative developments in the field of geophysics and meteorology, and also has its own Time Service. In this science center were discovered several exoplanets, the Kaptein star and measured one of the stars in the constellation Proxima Centauri.
"Raisin" of the observatory
The South African Astronomical Observatory offers its guests not only to discover the beauty of the starry sky, but also to attend the "Open Nights" events, where everyone can listen to fascinating lectures in the popular science style about the composition of celestial bodies, their behavior, other dimensions and everything Most visitors are known only from fantastic films.
There are also several research interest groups at the observatory: for those who are interested in the origin of galaxies, astrophysics, planetary astronomy, and so on.
You can even admire the celestial bodies, far from telescopes: on the site of the institution there is a virtual observatory that opens access to photographs and scientific information that specialists received for many years.
How to get there?
Since the main telescopes of the station are in the vicinity of Cape Town , you should go to the Trans-Sahara high-speed highway N1 - and somewhere in 4 hours you will be there.
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