\part{SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA}
\chapter {Astronomy in South Africa}
\addcontentsline{toc}{section}{B. Warner}
{\large B. Warner}\par
\bigskip

This note reviews those aspects of astronomy in South Africa
that may be useful for the support of astronomical development
on the rest of the African continent.

Optical and infrared astronomy is largely consolidated at the
Sutherland site of the South African Astronomical Observatory
(SAAO), about 3300 km from Cape Town. The administrative and
technical headquarters of this institution occupy the buildings
of the old Royal Observatory (founded in 1820) in Cape Town.
In Cape Town there is a twin 18/24 inch (0.45/0.6m) refractor
and a 18-inch (0.45m) photometric reflector that are still
operational.
At Sutherland the 74-inch (1.8m Radcliffe) reflector is
equipped for spectroscopy, CCD imaging and IR photometry.
Newtonian and coudĒ foci are available but rarely used. Also at
Sutherland there are 40-inch, 30-inch and 20-inch telescopes
(approx. 1m, 0.75m and 0.5m) used primarily for CCD imaging
(40-inch), optical and infrared photometry (30-inch) and
UVBRI standard photometry (20-inch). An automatic photoelectric
telescope (30-inch aperture) is nearing completion. Observing
conditions at Sutherland provide about 50% photometric time. 

The SAAO is a National Facility, funded through the Foundation
for Research Development (FRD). Extensive use of the SAAO has
been made by overseas users during the past two decades. Many
international collaborative projects have been and are being
undertaken. Applications for observing time may be made to the
Director, P.O. Box 9, Observatory 7935, South Africa.

Radio astronomy is concentrated at Hartebeesthoek Radio
Astronomical Facility (HartRAO) sixty kilometres north-west of
Johannesburg. This is a National Facility, equipped with  a 26m
equatorially mounted radio dish (evolved from a NASA Deep Space
Station) suitable for centimetric and longer wavelength
studies and operates in from 2.5cm to 18 cm. Radio,
spectroscopic, VLBI, survey and
pulsar-monitoring studies are undertaken, including
international collaborative studies. Variable sources and radio-
continuum mapping are also included as main fields of interest. 
Applications for observing
time or collaborative studies may be made to The Director,
HartRAO, P.O.Box 443, Krugersdorpf 1740, South Africa.

Plans are underway to finance the construction of a 3.5m
optical reflector, to be installed either at Sutherland or at
the Gamsberg site (150 km west of Windhoek) in Namibia, owned
by the Max Planck Institute of Astronomy at Heidelberg. This is
known as the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) project and
is
being viewed telescope that will primarily support astronomy in
the southern subcontinent, but would be available to qualified
users through sub-Saharan Afrlca.

Astronomical education at the tertiary level is available at
several universities, the principal of which are:\par
\smallskip
\hspace*{0.5cm} 1.  University of Cape Town, which has provided
undergraduate
courses (but no first    degree) in the Department of Astronomy
since l970 and B.Sc.(Hons), M.Sc. and  Ph.D. programmes. A
first degree (B.Sc.) astronomy programme was started in   
1994. The research programmes make use of the SAAO facilities.
The Applied Mathematics Department runs a cosmology and general
relativity programme (under Prof. G.R. Ellis);\par
\smallskip
\hspace*{0.5cm} 2.  Rhodes University (Grahamstown), Physics and
Electronics
Department specializes in research in radio astronomy. The
personnel are the principal academic users of HartRAO;\par
\smallskip
\hspace*{0.5cm} 3.  University of Potchefstroom, Department of
Physics,
specializes in ground-based gamma-ray astronomy, cosmic-ray,
heliosphere and high-energy astrophysics research;\par
\smallskip
\hspace*{0.5cm} 4.  University of South Africa (Department of
Mathematics,
Applied Mathematics and Astronomy, P.O.Box 392, Pretoria 0001,
South Africa) is a correspondence university with over 122,000
students of which 87\% are from South Africa,11.5\%  from the
rest of Africa and the remainder from all parts of the world.
They have  about 90 first-year astronomy students, 10
second-year and 3 third-year students, on average.  In
addition, B.Sc. (Astronomy), B.Sc. (Honours), M.Sc. and Ph.D.  
courses are offered; and\par
\smallskip
\hspace*{0.5cm} 5.  Astronomy courses and supervision are also
offered at the
University of the Witwatersrand, the University of the Orange
Free State (Bloemfontein) and the University of Natal (Durban).
         
An advantage of tertiary education in South Africa is that fees
and living costs are much lower than the equivalents in
Europe or North America. Degree standards are maintained at
international levels (by the use of, for example, overseas
examiners for higher degrees).
         
The Universities, libraries and scientific institutions in
South Africa are connected by UNINET, which itself is connected
into Internet.
         
Other astronomical activities include major planetaria at the
South African Museum (Cape Town) and the University of the
Witwatersrand, which process about 100,000 schoolchildren per
year, as well as large numbers of adults. The Astronomical
Society of Southern Africa is a largely amateur organization
with significant professional membership.