South African Astronomical Observatory

1 Observatory Road, Sutherland, 6920 ,South Africa
South African Astronomical Observatory South African Astronomical Observatory is one of the popular Landmark & Historical Place located in 1 Observatory Road ,Sutherland listed under Landmark in Sutherland , Government Organization in Sutherland , Garage Door Service in Sutherland ,

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South African Astronomical Observatory is the national centre for optical and infrared astronomy in South Africa. It was established in 1972. The observatory is run by the National Research Foundation of South Africa. The facility's function is to conduct research in astronomy and astrophysics. The primary telescopes are located in Sutherland, which is from Observatory, Cape Town, where the headquarters is located.The SAAO has links worldwide for scientific and technological collaboration. Instrumental contributions from the South African Astronomical Observatory include the development of a spherical aberration corrector and the Southern African Large Telescope .The Noon Gun on Cape Town's Signal Hill is fired remotely by a time signal from the Observatory.HistoryThe history of the SAAO began when the Royal Observatory at the Cape of Good Hope was founded in 1820, the first scientific institution in Africa. Construction of the main buildings was completed in 1829 at a cost of £30,000. The post of Her Majesty's astronomer at the Cape of Good Hope was awarded the Royal Medal on two occasions; the first to Thomas Maclear in 1869 for measurement of an arc of the meridian at the Cape of Good Hope and the second to David Gill in 1903 for researches in solar and stellar parallax, and his energetic direction of the Royal Observatory at the Cape of Good Hope.

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