Africa’s giant eye on the sky
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Africa’s giant eye on the sky
During the WhyAfrica Road Trip I visited the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) in the Northern Cape
By Leon Louw founder of WhyAfrica and editor of the WhyAfrica magazine
I’ve heard a lot about the radio telescopes of the Karoo so when I arrived in Sutherland the first thing I wanted to do was visit SALT and to find out more about what its impact will be on future development projects in the region.
The presence of world-class telescopes such as SALT and the radio telescope infrastructure of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in the Karoo region means that development projects in the mining, exploration and infrastructure sectors must navigate a specialised regulatory environment.
An Astronomy Advantage Area (AAA)
Under the Astronomy Geographic Advantage Act (AGA) 2007 South Africa has declared the Northern Cape an “astronomy advantage area” and, within carefully demarcated core and central Astronomy Advantage Areas (AAAs), there are strict controls over radio-frequency interference (RFI), electromagnetic emissions, and even certain types of infrastructure and operations.
For example, miners or exploration companies operating in or around these zones must assess and apply for permits for any equipment or process that might emit interfering frequencies (including communications systems, generators, high-voltage lines, fracking operations).
The Act also stipulates that if there is a conflict between its protections (for astronomy) and other legislation such as the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA), the AGA Act will prevail for those AAAs.
A company like Orion Minerals at Prieska for example, had to secure exemptions or carefully manage their communication systems and mining infrastructure so as not to interfere with the SKA or SALT operations.
Twenty years of an eye in the sky
Earlier this week SALT celebrated its 20th anniversary of astronomical excellence and breakthroughs.
Affectionately known as Africa’s giant eye on the sky, SALT is capable of detecting light from celestial objects a billion times too faint to be seen with the naked eye.
Originally conceptualised in the late 1990s as a bold national scientific endeavour, the project became a reality in 1998 when the South African government committed USD10-million towards its construction.
Completed in 2005, SALT entered full scientific operations in 2011 and has since delivered groundbreaking research that continues to shape our understanding of the universe.
Over the past two decades, SALT has achieved numerous astronomical milestones, including capturing the optical afterglow of a neutron star merger; supported the characterisation of newly discovered exoplanets; identified 8 new extremely hot subdwarf stars; characterised an ultra-low-metallicity galaxy offering a rare local glimpse into early-Universe conditions and confirmed the gravitational binding of a unique quadruple star system, informing theories of multi-star formation.
Image: The SALT exhibition in Sutherland. Image credit: Leon Louw for WhyAfrica.
Africa’s giant eye on the sky