TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      Load shedding returns, and may last until Thursday

      16 August 2022

      Jo’burg to issue RFP for 500MW of electricity ‘within weeks’

      16 August 2022

      MTN hires outgoing Icasa CEO Willington Ngwepe into top role

      16 August 2022

      Rain in embarrassing climbdown over Telkom statement

      16 August 2022

      Coal miner Seriti plans R12-billion Mpumalanga wind farm

      16 August 2022
    • World

      Semiconductor boom turns to bust

      16 August 2022

      Tencent plans to offload R400-billion Meituan stake: sources

      16 August 2022

      Ether leaps higher on verge of Merge

      16 August 2022

      Institutions eye crypto but retail investors remain nervous

      15 August 2022

      Tencent woes mount, even after $560-billion selloff

      12 August 2022
    • In-depth

      African unicorn Flutterwave battles fires on multiple fronts

      11 August 2022

      The length of Earth’s days has been increasing – and no one knows why

      7 August 2022

      As Facebook fades, the Mad Men of advertising stage a comeback

      2 August 2022

      Crypto breaks the rules. That’s the point

      27 July 2022

      E-mail scams are getting chillingly personal

      17 July 2022
    • Podcasts

      Qush on infosec: why prevention is always better than cure

      11 August 2022

      e4’s Adri Führi on encouraging more women into tech careers

      10 August 2022

      How South Africa can woo more women into tech

      4 August 2022

      Book and check-in via WhatsApp? FlySafair is on it

      28 July 2022

      Interview: Why Dell’s next-gen PowerEdge servers change the game

      28 July 2022
    • Opinion

      No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

      11 July 2022

      Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

      8 July 2022

      South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

      4 July 2022

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Africa Data Centres
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»Science»Salt leaves scientists starry-eyed

    Salt leaves scientists starry-eyed

    Science By Agency Staff2 May 2016
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email

    salt-telescope-640

    Astrophysicists attached to the Southern Africa Large Telescope (Salt) are observing supernovas “almost weekly”, Naledi Pandor, science & technology minister, was told during a tour of the facility on Friday.

    Salt is the largest optical telescope in the southern hemisphere and is sensitive enough to observe stars and galaxies thousands of light years from earth.

    “There was one just this past week,” said Ramatlhodi Sefako, one of only three black astrophysicists in the country.

    It is good news for academics attached to Salt, he said, because they are observing rare happenings.

    Supernovas are massive explosions that occur at the end of the life of a star.

    The supernovas may have occurred hundreds or thousands of years ago, but are only observed on earth now because of the vast distances the light of the explosions has to travel to get to Earth.

    New galaxies and black holes are also being discovered — though not so regularly.

    Scientists normally do not talk about their finds until they have been published in scientific journals and have been reviewed by peers.

    “Supernovas are one of the things that are discovered almost weekly or on a monthly basis. It’s a big thing because some of these things are rare and do not happen closer to us. That’s where the strength of Salt comes in.

    “You wouldn’t have seen it otherwise,” Sefako said.

    Salt has been in operation since 2005, when it took its first pictures.

    Pandor was very excited by the spin-offs of Salt.

    She visited a community centre where children from Sutherland are given computer lessons. The programs they work on are games that teach them about the stars and space.

    Bursaries are available to those who want to study in astronomy and related fields.

    “This is putting South Africa firmly on the world map in terms of science.

    “It helps us to train young people at master’s and PhD levels, our own engineers, our astrophysicists, but also allows many international researchers to come to Sutherland, to the Northern Cape, to South Africa, so really this science puts us at the centre of world research,” Pandor said.

    Apart from Salt, the Northern Cape hosts the Square Kilometre Array at Carnavon.

    It will be the largest radio telescope in the world once it has been completed. Its precursor the MeerKAT is expected to be operational in June this year.

    News24

    Naledi Pandor Ramatlhodi Sefako Salt
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleAltron plunges deep into the red
    Next Article Bitcoin inventor found? Not so fast

    Related Posts

    South Africa questions flight ban amid global alarm over Covid variant

    26 November 2021

    DA gives poor grades to ICT ministers

    4 December 2017

    SA astronomers observe gravitational waves

    17 October 2017
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    HPE SimpliVity: addressing SMBs’ data conundrums

    16 August 2022

    Digital transformation – don’t get caught unprepared

    16 August 2022

    Seven reasons your business needs IP surveillance cameras

    15 August 2022
    Opinion

    No reason South Africa should have a shortage of electricity: Ramaphosa

    11 July 2022

    Ntshavheni’s bias against the private sector

    8 July 2022

    South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

    4 July 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.