The Southern African Large Telescope: from concept to reality

by Dr David Buckley, Director, Science Progams, (SALT, South Africa.)

Tuesday 25 Nov 2014, 16:00 → 17:00 Asia/Kolkata

DAA Seminar Room (A269) (TIFR)

Construction of the Southern African Large Telescope was completed in 2005 at a the relatively modest cost of ~$20M. Following a rather protracted commissioning period, during which a number of problems were addressed, it entered full science operations in 2011. This talk will discuss the design and construction of SALT and its First Generation instruments and the operational model for the telescope. Some science results will be presented, covering a range of topics, and focusing on studies related to time resolved observations. A summary of the new instrumentation which is currently under construction will also be given and future plans for multiwavelength programs.