/ 28 October 2003

Astronomers mull best ways to use Salt

Scientists from 16 countries will gather in Cape Town on Wednesday to discuss progress on the powerful Southern African Large Telescope (Salt), which is being built outside Sutherland in the Northern Cape.

On completion in December next year, Salt will be the largest single telescope in the southern hemisphere, capable of recording images of distant stars, galaxies and quasars a billion times too faint to be seen with the naked eye.

In a statement on Tuesday, the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) said the scientists were set to discuss plans on how to best use the giant instrument for exploring the depths of space.

It said an initial meeting of Salt’s South African, Polish, New Zealand, German, British and American partners would be followed by a general three-day workshop, which would end on Friday.

”Astronomers from around the world will present plans to explore the nature and life history of stars in our own Milky Way galaxy of a hundred-billion suns.”

Other plans included exploring the evolution of far galaxies, the nature of exploding stars, the formation of super-massive black holes, searching for planets, and ”looking for the invisible ‘dark matter’ that makes up most of the universe”.

Over a hundred scientists are expected to attend the gathering. The SAAO said there would also be parallel meetings between research astronomers and teachers to ”share perspectives on maths and science education, astronomy and transformation”.

The event will be held at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business near the Waterfront. – Sapa