Learners from the Mandisa Shiceka School of Specialisation visit HartRAO
Learners from the Mandisa Shiceka School of Specialisation visited HartRAO on Wednesday, 26 March 2025.
SARAO hosted a group of 52 learners accompanied by four educators on Wednesday, 26 March 2025. The learners were shown practical demonstrations and participated in the various site tour activities.
Learners from the Mandisa Shiceka School of Specialisation were taken through the foundational concepts and demonstrations outside the Visitor’s Centre, the analemmatic sundial, cardinal points and motion of the Earth using a demo earth globe, whisper dishes to illustrate the significance of the parabolic shape used for radio dishes and understanding the scales involved.
The tour also entailed the walk-through to the various scientific instruments co-located at HartRAO such as the radio dishes (15 metre and 26 metre), Satellite Laser Ranging stations and the broader aspects of Geodesy.
The overall session provided learners and educators with information about radio astronomy, SARAO’s work, and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
This event served as an opportunity to expand SARAO’s impact efforts, introduce radio astronomy to a broader audience, and establish connections for future collaborations in STEM career development.
