Sutherland

South African skies have been called "one of the most breathtaking pallets on the planet."

After a wonderful, relaxing adventure on the coast, we took off on a four hour drive to Sutherland, South Africa--"the gateway to the universe." Sutherland is famous for several reasons. It is the coldest place in South Africa, it has the cleanest air with zero light pollution, and it is home to SALT, or Southern African Large Telescope. This is the largest telescope in the Southern Hemisphere, powerful enough to see a candle flame on the moon!

 

We learned that SALT is the largest telescope in the southern hemisphere because of its hexagonal mirror array eleven meters across. Carson said it seemed a lot like the Hobby-Eberly telescope in Texas, because she is the only one in our group that had been there. We also learned that the telescope was funded by partners from South Africa, the United States, Germany, Poland, India, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.

It was now really dark, so we walked to a local park and spread out a big picnic blanket. Forrest brought us all hot chocolate to stay awake and Philip prided his boyscout knowledge on pointing out constellations.

 

Posted by: Catherine and Forrest