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NRF|SAAO Cape Town Open Night
27th December 2025 @ 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 December 2025 are scheduled for all 4 Saturdays of the month)
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: Oleg Malkov, Institute of Astronomy RAS
Title: Expert prognosis of the future of astronomy
Abstract: An expert forecast on the development of astronomy was prepared in 2009. A list of 35 questions was compiled by Russian astronomy popularizers. Each question begins with “When”, e.g. “When will a human land on Mars?” or “When white holes will be discovered?” The list was independently checked and corrected by scientific journalists. Russian astronomers were asked to answer the questions. The questionnaire was also available to amateurs and enthusiasts of astronomy through the Internet. Results of the opinion poll and comparison with reality are presented here.
Bio: Oleg Malkov was born in Moscow in 1961. In 1978, he entered the Physics Faculty of Moscow State University (Astronomy Department) and graduated in 1984. From March 1984, he has been working at the Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, currently as Head of the Department of Physics of Stellar Systems. He also conducted scientific research and taught at academic institutions and observatories in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, South Africa, China, Ethiopia and several other countries. In 2004, he maintained a thesis in Astrophysics titled “Binary stars and the initial mass function”, and received the degree of Doctor of Sciences. He is an author of about 380 scientific papers. Oleg Malkov is a professor of astronomy at Moscow State University.