SARAO hosts more than 80 members of the public and school learners at another Public Open Day
Since the first Public Open Day was held in 2019, SARAO has welcomed members of the public numerous times to advance the public understanding of our science.
These days it is no different: the first SARAO Public Open Day for 2026 was met with excitement, as a bumper number of attendees registered to be shown the wonders of the Karoo site. From the early days when barely 30 members of the public joined, more than 80 participants registered and showed up on the day, some even urgently requesting a spot at the last minute!
This is testimony to the popularity of the event, as word spreads and people realise the unique opportunity that the SARAO Open Day offers in terms of seeing where world-class science instruments are being conceptualised, constructed and built in order to deliver exciting results with some of the most advanced instruments in the world.
The more than 30 school learners, five teachers, five members of the South African Air Force, and more than 45 members of the public were welcomed early morning on Wednesday, 25 March 2026 in the town of Carnarvon, followed by a convoyed trip to site 90 kilometres away.
The visitors were divided into two groups, with one group starting their journey of exploring the Karoo site at Losberg which includes tours through the KAPB and the power rooms among others, and the other group departing for the core of the MeerKAT telescope, KAT-7, HERA and other instruments being constructed and operated on the site.
A formal photo opportunity takes place in the core, where visitors can request pictures to be taken of them on the tour. The pictures are shared with them a few days later, where they can download them.
As always, visitors were strongly urged not to bring their own vehicles, cameras, cell phones, smart watches and other radio frequency-emitting devices to site, as per the stringent RFI regulations.
The day was concluded with an opportunity to attend a stargazing event at the Carnarvon Air Field in the evening, where visitors could peer into the dark skies with a telescope.
