Sarah Buchner, the science operations lead at the SA MeerKAT Radio Telescope, will be the guest speaker at a public lecture hosted by the Franschhoek Theatre and SmallTalX next Wednesday (29 November).
Members of the public interested in astronomy and physics will be treated to a discussion of how MeerKAT is used to observe pulsars (magnetised rotating neutron stars) and search for evidence of gravitational waves.
Buchner has extensive experience in astronomy, having managed Antarctic observation projects, in addition to roles at the HartRAO and MeerKAT telescopes in the Karoo. Her current work involves the scheduling of scientific work at the MeerKAT site.
MeerKAT serves as an early phase of the upcoming Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project.
The site is based in the Meerkat National Park in the Karoo, and features 64 radio antennae.
Over the past five years, scientists have used the MeerKAT equipment to make some remarkable discoveries. In 2019, giant radio bubbles at the centre of the Milky Way were discovered, having been emitted by our central supermassive black hole several million years ago. Two years later, a joint Italian-German team discovered eight new pulsars.
Pulsars emit radio beams as they rotate, much like a lighthouse emitting beams of light at a set rate. The radio beams can be observed by the MeerKAT dishes. The eight newly discovered “millisecond pulsars” rotate around 700 times per second.
A typical neutron star has a mass many times that of the Earth, but extremely dense, being compressed to a diameter of only around 24 km. They, therefore, provide an opportunity to study fundamental physical processes in action.
Last year, a chance observation of radio signals from a so-called “neutron star graveyard” led to the discovery of a pulsar with an abnormally long rotation period of 76 seconds – a unique discovery that couldn’t have been made without the pioneering technological equipment in the Karoo.
The talk takes place at the Franschhoek Theatre at 18:30. Tickets cost R250, and include a glass of wine, snacks, and an answer-and-question session with Buchner.
Bookings are essential, and can be made online at www.franschhoektheatre.co.za, or by sending an email to hello@franschhoektheatre.co.za. Direct all queries to Leila Shirley on 067 314 4059.
