Astronomy Highlights With The Meerkat Radio Telescope

ASTRONOMY HIGHLIGHTS WITH THE MEERKAT RADIO TELESCOPE

Dr Itumeleng Monageng, Associate Professor Sarah Blythe, Professor Patrick Woudt, University of Cape Town

Wednesday 18–Friday 20 January

9.15 am

COURSE FEES R330

This course will showcase some of the spectacular astronomical results from the MeerKAT radio telescope. MeerKAT is a precursor to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and has been operational since July 2018. The course will discuss MeerKAT’s capabilities and present some of the interesting findings from the telescope. The first lecture will take us on a journey through the evolution of stars and give insights on some of the most explosive events in the Universe. The second lecture will focus on the science of galaxies and shed light on some of the largest structures in the Universe. In the final lecture we will learn about the connection between MeerKAT and MeerLICHT, a robotic optical telescope that is dedicated to observe the same region of the sky as MeerKAT.

Lecture titles

1. Evolution of stars and stellar explosions Dr Itumeleng Monageng

2. The science of galaxies with MeerKAT Associate Professor Sarah Blyth

3. MeerLICHT: an optical view of the radio sky Professor Patrick Woudt

BOOK HERE

Dr Itumeleng Monageng is a lecturer in the Astronomy Department and has a joint position with the South African Astronomical Observatory. He obtained his PhD in 2018 from the University of Cape Town and was awarded the UCT College of Fellows’ Young Researcher Award in 2020.

Prof Sarah Blythe is an Associate Professor and Deputy Head of the Astronomy Department. She obtained her PhD in 2007 from the University of Cape Town. Prof Blyth is the co-principal investigator of LADUMA, a MeerKAT large survey project that looks at the Distant Universe.

Prof Patrick Woudt is Professor of Astronomy and the Head of the Astronomy Department. He obtained his PhD from the University of Cape Town in 1998. He is the co-principal investigator of the MeerKAT large survey on radio transients, and the MeerLICHT telescope.