Southern African Large Telescope

(SALT) A major telescope located at the main research and observing station of the South African Astronomical Observatory in Sutherland, in the Karoo region of the Northern Cape, South Africa. The telescope, which has a hexagonal mirror array measuring 11 meters in diameter, is the largest in the southern hemisphere, built at a cost of $30 million. Because of this high cost, SALT has had to be run as an international venture involving institutions from South Africa, Germany, New Zealand, Poland, the UK, and the USA. SALT is similar to the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at the McDonald Observatory in Texas, USA, but employs redesigned optics to use a larger portion of the mirror array. Building of the telescope commenced in 2000, and it came into operation in 2005.

Collins Dictionary of Astronomy © Market House Books Ltd, 2006

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SALT

References in periodicals archive

One exciting post-sanction infusion into southern African astronomy is the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) at Sutherland.

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Southern African Large Telescope Northern Cape Province, South Africa 2005

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The most exciting post-sanction infusion into southern African astronomy is the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) at Sutherland.

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Prof Williams brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge which includes research in observational extragalactic astronomy and instrumentation development, as well as major leadership positions at the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) and Rutgers University Department of Physics and Astronomy.

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Opportunities in South Africa are especially good with two multi-million rand astronomy projects in progress: the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) and the South African Square Kilometre Array Project (SA SKA) which includes the Karoo Array telescope (MeerKAT).

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In this talk, I will present an ambitious project for the search of IMBHs using the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT).

Astronomical colloquia