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NRF|SAAO Cape Town Open Night
November 15 @ 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Join us for Open Nights at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in Cape Town, held on the second and fourth Saturday of every month. (NOTE: Open Nights for November 2025 will be on the 3rd and 5th Saturday)
Each evening begins with an engaging presentation on astronomy or a related field of science, followed by a guided tour of the Observatory’s rich history—including our library, museum, and the historic 120-year-old McClean Telescope.
Weather permitting, guests will have the opportunity to enjoy stargazing through the McClean and additional smaller telescopes.
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- Gates open at 7:30 PM.
- Free entry for children aged 6 and under.
Please email cptbookings@saao.ac.za or call +27 21 447 0025 if you have any queries regarding bookings.
Speaker: Kathryn Rosie
Abstract and Bio:
Bio:
Kathryn Rosie is a Mechanical Engineer in the Instrumentation Division at the South African Astronomical Observatory. She received her MSc Eng at UCT in 2011, with a focus on materials and how they break. After a short stint in nuclear engineering, she joined the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) in 2015 as a project engineer, and in 2019 expanded to optical astronomy at SAAO, where she is responsible for instrument design and providing technical support to maintenance and operations. She spends a lot of time figuring out how to keep air, moisture, dust, and heat out of things.
Abstract:
A candid look at telescopes and their instruments, and the hardware involved in turning light from stars and galaxies into pretty pictures and science data. The talk will introduce our telescopes and instruments in Sutherland, and include some of the shenanigans we get up to in keeping them up to date.
A candid look at telescopes and their instruments, and the hardware involved in turning light from stars and galaxies into pretty pictures and science data. The talk will introduce our telescopes and instruments in Sutherland, and include some of the shenanigans we get up to in keeping them up to date.