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Discover the latest developments in time domain science at South African observatories, including LSST follow-up activities and advancements with the SKA project. Learn about telescope installations, small telescopes operated jointly with other countries, and the milestones in the construction of MeerKAT. Explore the Large Survey Projects conducted with MeerKAT, such as Radio Pulsar Timing and the HI Survey of Fornax Cluster. Stay informed about the plans to incorporate MeerKAT and ASKAP pathfinders into SKA Phase 1.
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Time domain science and LSST follow‐up in South Africa (+ SKA) Stephen Potter South African Astronomical Observatory
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I I 1.9m SAAO PMTs <20% QE 10m VLT CCD >90% QE
Sutherland Observing Station Optical (near-uv to near-ir) Astronomy: Various small SA telescopes: 1.9m, 1.0m, 0.75m, 0.5m… Other small telescopes jointly operated: e.g. with Japan 1.4m IRSF Small (automated) telescopes: UK, Germany, USA, Poland SALT owned by international consortium
KAT-7 (MeerKAT prototype) 7 antennas, L-band (1200-1950 MHz) Jan 2008: Project start May 2009: First antenna installed on site Dec 2009: Fringes April 2010: First Image Oct 2010: ESKOM power on site Oct 2010: Cold receiver installation Nov 2010: 10 Mbps link to CT Dec 2011: Engineering completion
MeerKAT SA is committed to completing MeerKAT construction by 2016 Award of 64-dish MeerKAT antenna contract MeerKAT roads & infrastructure under construction Subsystem development on track Work on integration of MeerKAT with SKA is proceeding (64 + 190 dishes)
MeerKAT Large Survey Projects Radio Pulsar Timing (Bailes) LADUMA - ultra deep HI survey (Blyth, Holwerda, Baker) MESMER - high redshift CO (Heywood) MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey (Gupta, Srianand) MHONGOOSE - nearby HI (de Blok) TRAPUM - fast transients and pulsars (Stappers, Kramer) HI Survey of Fornax Cluster (Serra) MeerGAL - high frequency galactic plan survey (Thompson, Goedhart) MIGHTEE - deep continuum (van der Heyden, Jarvis) ThunderKAT - explosive / "slow" transients (Woudt, Fender)
SKA Site Decision MeerKAT and ASKAP pathfinders to be incorporated into SKA Phase 1 Details still to be negotiated. SKA1_Mid: 64 MeerKAT dishes + ~190 SKA dishes SKA1_Survey: 36 ASKAP dishes + ~60 SKA dishes Most of the telescope will be built in Africa