Stellar Astronomy Research Group - SAAO & UCT

11/10/2017

Astronomers from the SAAO & UCT lead the discovery of one of the most luminous eruption from a dying star ever observed

“SALT contributes to the discovery of one of the most luminous eruptions from a dying star https://t.co/KoayCdMGY4”

27/02/2017

Astronomers from SAAO and UCT were at the V&A waterfront yesterday sharing the joy of the partial solar eclipse with the public. With some telescopes and solar viewers, the kids, the adults, and the elders enjoyed this astonishing phenomenon. The queue behind the telescopes were longer than the queue for the wheel ;). The next visible eclipse from Cape Town will only occur in December 2020. Hope you all didn't miss yesterday's eclipse, otherwise you will have to wait for another four years or so!! Elias Aydi Itumeleng M Monageng Hannes Breytenbach Nikki Peceur Meridith Joyce

22/02/2017

On Sunday Feb. 26, an annular solar eclipse will occur. An eclipse happens when the Earth, Moon, and Sun are aligned and the Moon is between the Earth and Sun. Thereby the Moon totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for the viewers on Earth. In the case when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun during the eclipse, the Sun appears like a ring or annular when the Moon is covering it, hence the name 'annular solar eclipse'. Unfortunately, the eclipse will appear only partially from Cape Town. But, hey!! It is still very interesting to see!!
Astronomers from the SAAO will set up telescopes at the V&A waterfront, to share this beautiful phenomenon with the public. Starting at 17:00 (start of the eclipse) till 19:00 (end of the eclipse).
You are all encourage to join us!! Bring your kids and friends to see the eclipse, interact with the astronomers and ask them as much questions as you like!!

10/02/2017

Tonight (Feb 10/11) a Penumbral Lunar Eclipse is going to take place and guess what? It will visible from South Africa.The Eclipse starts around 00:34 after midnight (local time), it reaches the maximum at 02:43 and it is over at around 04:53 before sunrise. But hey, the excitement is not over yet!! A distant comet called 45P has been visible from Earth (of course with the help of a binocular or a telescope) for the last couple of months and it will make its closest approach on Saturday (Feb. 11). Stargazers, take out your binoculars and telescopes, it is going to be a fun night!!

26/01/2017

The South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) is holding a competition to name their new telescope! SAAO has recently added a new 1m telescope to its collection of many national and internation…

26/01/2017

Astronomers from the SAAO discover a bizarre stellar binary system witnessing a battle between a white dwarf and a red dwarf!! - The revenge of the degenerates!!
Read the article below and comment your questions on the post!!

Nature Astronomy, Volume 1, Article Number 0029 A bizarre binary star system has been discovered where a degenerate white dwarf pulsar is “lashing” its red dwarf companion with its strong magnetic …

11/01/2017

Dr. Wanda Diaz Merced will talk about the return of the astrophysics field to the exploration of heavens using multisensoriality. She will also stress that this promises to enrich exploration in as…

29/11/2016

The SAAO this year took part in the Streetopia festival (obs. Street festival) where Astronomers and staff memeber from SAAO (Ros Skelton, Shazrene Mohamed, Ross Pinto, Elias Aydi, Itumeleng M Monageng, Kurt van der Heyden, Christian Hettlage, Romatholo Sefako, Buzani Khumalo) set up a stand to share their Enthusiasm about Astronomy with the Public. Many visitors were able to engage with the astronomers, ask them questions about Astronomy and the Observatory, and have a look through the Dobsonian telescopes to see our Sun that was showing couple of sunspots. Kids who are researchers and explorers by nature were not only the ones asking most of the questions but also they had the chance to weight themselves on different planets using the speaking mat. At the end of the day everyone had a taste of Astronomy and most importantly lots of fun!!

15/11/2016

A night of interaction and engagement with the public at the waterfront. Astronomers from SAAO (Elias Aydi Itumeleng M Monageng Nicola Clementel Lucia Marchetti) set up some telescopes at Cape Town waterfront to enjoy the SUPERMOON with the public. The Moon was magical and everyone left with a memory (shoot) on his phone!!
Photo Credit: Nicola Clementel

14/11/2016

Astronomers from The South African Astronomical Observatory are setting up telescopes at Cape Town waterfront (next to the V&A mall) to enjoy the SUPERMOON with the public tonight!! Don't hesitate to join them, have a look through the telescopes and meet astronomers!!

14/11/2016

It is a SUPER MOON tonight!! What you need to know about the super Moon:
The Moon's orbit around the Earth is not a perfect circle. It is an elliptical orbit, Which means the distance Earth-Moon changes during the orbit. On average, the Moon is at a distance of about 385,000 km from Earth's centre. This distance can go up to ~ 405,000 km at the farthest distance from Earth (apogee) and it can go down to ~ 363,000 km at the closest distance to Earth (perigee). A super Moon occurs when the Moon is full during its Perigee. the Full Moon on 14 November 2016 presents the closest SUPERMOON since 1948. The Moon will look 14% bigger and 30% brighter Than a full Moon during an apogee.
Enjoy the SUPERMOON tonight and always look up!!

20/10/2016

Eta Carinae is a massive, bright stellar binary system. The more massive component is one of the largest and most luminous stars known. In the central region of the binary, the powerful stellar win…