Astronomers utilizing South Africa’s Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) have settled a high-stakes cosmic debate surrounding WOH G64, one of the most extreme stars ever recorded. Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, this red supergiant is renowned for its immense luminosity and massive dust clouds. However, recent erratic behaviour, including dramatic dimming and weakened pulsations,…
Astronomers using South Africa’s Southern African Large Telescope (Salt) near Sutherland in the Northern Cape have solved a cosmic mystery surrounding one of the most extreme stars ever observed. WOH G64, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, is famous for being one of the most luminous, coolest and…
The “big lift” of the main reflector onto the pedestal for the first SKA-Mid production dish on site in South Africa. The lift took place on 4 July 2024. Photo credit: SKAO/Max Alexander, CC BY 3.0 South Africa’s role at the heart of one of the world’s most ambitious scientific instruments moved a step closer…
The Southern African Large Telescope, or Salt The Southern African Large Telescope (Salt) celebrates 20 years of observing the sky. Salt is the largest optical telescope in the southern hemisphere. It’s been steadily revealing new science knowledge, ranging from the discovery of planets outside our solar system to understanding the unusual physics around black holes….
A telescope in Chile has captured a stunning new picture of a grand and graceful cosmic butterfly. The National Science Foundation’s NoirLab released the picture on Wednesday. The glowing “wings” appear to be bursting in the image. While the bipolar nebula goes by the monikers Butterfly Nebula, Bug Nebula or Caldwell 69, its official name…
A new image shows the growing tail of a comet from another star system streaking across our solar system. The image of comet 3I/ATLAS was captured on Aug. 27 using one of the telescopes at the International Gemini Observatory in Chile during a public outreach event allowing students to work with astronomers. The comet is…
Since its 2021 launch, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revolutionized our understanding of the early universe. Now, for the first time, Webb has made its own groundbreaking discovery: an exoplanet never before observed. Read: Bandwidth Blog & Smile 90.4FM Tech Tuesday: Oakley Meta Smart Glasses! Webb directly imaged a young gas giant planet,…
An image of the protoplanetary disk around the star TWA 7, recorded using the European Southern Observatory’s Chile-based Very Large Telescope’s Sphere instrument, is seen with an image captured with the James Webb Space Telescope’s Miri instrument overlayed in this image released on 25 June 2025. The empty area around exoplanet TWA 7 B is…
