Groups of all ages hosted at third SARAO Public Open Day for 2026

The third SARAO Open Day for 2026 was attended by members of all ages and from different parts of the country, on Wednesday, 30 September 2026.

Hosted by the SARAO Communication and Stakeholder Relations team, it was a combined effort by several teams, including Site Operations, SHEQ, RFI and Facilities.

The 60 guests consisted of young families, students, pensioners and other interested parties, from all corners of the country. The group gathered on a beautiful, clear-skied sunny spring day in the town of Carnarvon, before being transported to the site at Losberg.

Once they arrived, the group was hosted in the KAPB boardroom, before being split into two groups touring the Losberg site and the core with the various instruments, including MeerKAT, KAT-7, HERA and other guest instruments.

Teams from SARAO and SKAO joined hands in making the Open Day a truly memorable experience. The SHEQ and RFI teams addressed the guests in Carnarvon, while Site Operations welcomed and transported the guests at Losberg. Presentations and demonstrations by Dawie le Roux and AJ de Klerk from the Operations and Electricity teams and André Walker from the Data team were held at Losberg, while Marion West from Science Engagement and a former SARAO colleague Dr Anton Binneman from SAASTA, guided the guests on the instrumentation tour.

The Open Day was also extra special because several SARAO and SKAO employees brought along their families to show them around where mom or dad works!

The third Open Day for 2026 was a great closing event for the year’s events of this nature, and will surely resume with renewed vigour and equally positive energy in the new year.