Great seeing in Sutherland

Here's more proof from Eric's great night of seeing in Sutherland:

Do you want SALT data?

The Salt science conference 2015 was held last week in Stellenbosch.  One of the talks there was specifically directed to all SALT users, on how to maximize your chances of actually getting the data for your program.  This would be useful reading to anyone considering proposing for SALT time in the next Call for Proposals coming out in July.  Some important aspects include making use of optional targets, Bright time which is under-subscribed, P4 time, and planning for both seasonal and nightly visibilities, i.e. beware of tight tracks and Moon constraints. 

SALT Astronomy Operations is planning to publish more tips and tricks for the upcoming Phase-1.  And feel free to contact us at any time for more questions at our 'salthelp' address.

Junior SALT Astornomer

With all the work on HRS and the recent SALT Astronomer vacancy, we are investigating the possibility of the Junior SALT Astronomers.   Here is Emma Buckley (with her proud father in the background) helping with some RSS engineering observations as she learns the ropes from Amanda Gulbis: