The largest single optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere, completed in 2005 at Sutherland, South Africa with an 11-meter segmented primary mirror built on the same fixed-altitude design as the Hobby-Eberly Telescope in Texas. Funded by an international partnership led by South Africa.
Facts
Observatory TypeSegmented mirror optical telescope with a 9.2 meter effective aperture, designed mainly for spectroscopy 2 MeasuresVisible and near infrared light, enabling spectroscopic and polarimetric analysis and imaging 2 Operating PrincipleFixed altitude segmented primary mirror of 91 hexagonal one meter segments forming an 11.1 by 9.8 meter mirror 2 Classification
Observing Band Connections
Operated By
Source South African Astronomical Observatory: SALT
In the Other Atlases
Located In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is located.
Sources
1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia Foundation
2. Wikipedia: Southern African Large Telescope - Wikipedia
Lead section
a 9.2-metre optical telescope designed mainly for spectroscopy
History section
The official opening by President Thabo Mbeki took place during the inauguration ceremony on 10 November 2005.
Instruments section
enables spectroscopic and polarimetric analysis and imaging
Design section
91 hexagonal mirror segments each with a 1-metre inscribed diameter, resulting in a total hexagonal mirror of 11.1 by 9.8 m
Southern African Large Telescope, Wikipedia - lead section, observing band (optical)
The Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) is a 9.2-metre optical telescope designed mainly for spectroscopy.
In Group: Optical Observatories of Africa and Oceania, Lead: location
It is located close to the town of Sutherland in the semi-desert region of the Karoo, South Africa.
View the SourceSouth African Astronomical Observatory: SALT
South African Astronomical ObservatoryOperated By: South African Astronomical Observatory, SALT pageQuote, Operated By: South African Astronomical Observatory, SALT page
SALT is situated at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) field station near the small town of Sutherland, in the Northern Cape province
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