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NRF|SAAO Cape Town Open Night
May 23 @ 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Join us for Open Nights at the South African Astronomical Observatory (NRF/SAAO) in Cape Town, held on the second and fourth Saturday of every 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: Munira Hoosain
Bio: Munira Hoosain has recently completed her PhD thesis at the University of Cape Town and SAAO where she measured the neutral hydrogen gas content in galaxies across 5 billion years of the Universe’s history. She is a recipient of the South African Women in Science Awards DSI–Ndoni Mcunu Doctoral Fellowship (2023). Alongside with her research, Munira is a science communicator and has presented at Soapbox Science CT 2025.
Abstract: The Life Cycle of A Galaxy
Galaxies come in many different shapes and sizes. From blue, fluffy dwarf irregular galaxies to giant ellipticals at the centre of clusters. Many factors, such as how much gas the galaxy has access to and where it lives, can shape the evolution of galaxies to create this diversity. In this talk, Munira will share the life cycle of galaxies – how they form stars, stay alive by acquiring more gas, interact with each other and eventually shut down. She will share her research on the hydrogen gas content of galaxies using data from one of the deepest surveys on MeerKAT and why this gas is so important for galaxies!