Nestled in a natural bowl surrounded by hills 50km north-west of Johannesburg, the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO), with its collection of radio dishes, looks quite out of place.
The road that snakes towards the observatory’s security entrance seems to conspire with the surrounding hillsides to hide the facility below, obscuring the site in an invisible layer of insignificance – except for the dishes that give away that something technologically advanced is taking place in this unlikely corner of the country.
The work that happens at HartRAO — which…
Hidden South African observatory quietly shapes our view of space
Technology
