NRF|SAAO Cape Town Open Night
September 26 @ 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 Observatory’s outreach 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: Malcolm Scarrott
Bio: Malcolm is currently a Masters student at the University of Cape Town, being supervised by Prof. Paul Groot, Dr. Lisa Crause, and Prof. Derryck Reid. His project involves building and qualifying the Laser Frequency Comb that has been under development since 2023. He has a passion for Instrumentation and PRV research, as well as a love for Astronomy in South Africa.
Abstract:
” Commissioning and Qualifying a Titanium Sapphire-Based Laser Frequency Comb for Precision Radial Velocity measurements with SALT’s High Resolution Spectrograph”
Laser Frequency Combs (LFC) are used to calibrate High Resolutions Spectrographs (HRS) by providing a set of narrow, equally spaced, and atomically referenced calibration lines. The SALT LFC project will enable Precision Radial Velocity Science (PRV) to done using SALT’s own HRS, mainly searching for exo-planets. A number of redesigns and improvements have been made to the LFC in 2026, extending the coverage of the comb across the HRS Red channel (550 – 890 nm). We have improved the stability of the system, and are working towards the comb being fully automated. This will allow for full commissioning of the instrument with on-sky RV standard stars, in preparation for the PLATO mission that will be launching in March 2027. The LFC will be an essential tool for exoplanet science, and presents an exciting prospect for South Africa to meaningfully contribute to the PRV scientific community.
In this talk Malcolm will discuss the theory behind searching for exo-planets, how LFCs work, the design of the SALT LFC, and results from monitoring its performance in both the lab and on-sky. He will also touch on the work that they hope to accomplish in the coming year.