NRF|SAAO Cape Town Open Night
June 27 @ 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: Mikhail de Villiers
Bio:
Mikhail de Villiers is a PhD student at the University of Cape Town and with the SAAO. His research involves extraplanar and diffuse gas in different galaxy environments where he is performing a detailed study trying to understand the morphology, distribution, kinematics and origins of neutral atomic Hydrogen in different galaxy environments.
Abstract: “Gassed Up: The role of gas in Galaxy Evolution”
Mikhail will take you on a captivating journey where we understand the importance of gas in galaxies, where it can come from and how we can study it in its multiphase nature. He will share some of his own research showing how primordial gas in the universe shapes the life cycle of a galaxy. Join us for a spectacular journey through the cosmos, from the grand-design spiral galaxies we see to the invisible clouds of hydrogen that shape their past, present and future. Discover how galaxies recycle matter to exist as complex ecosystems and learn why astronomers believe galaxies must be acquiring fresh gas to continue to survive. Using South Africa’s very own MeerKAT telescope, we can detect this elusive hydrogen and uncover structures that are unable to be seen by optical telescopes. From enormous gas disks extending far beyond the stars to denser structures intertwined with the stellar regions, MeerKAT reveals a hidden side of the universe.