South African astronomy has a long, rich history of discovery

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The South African Astronomical Observatory in Cape Town is the oldest permanent observatory in the southern hemisphere: It turned 200 in 2020.

This observatory is a fundamental part of South Africa’s long history of astronomical research, which began when French academic Nicolas-Louis de La Caille visited Cape Town from 1751 to 1753. He undertook a careful examination of every square degree of the southern sky. This resulted in the first comprehensive sky survey ever made, in either hemisphere.

The Royal Observatory, Cape Town of Good Hope (today the South African Astronomical Observatory) was established in 1820. It became – and remained for 150 years – the most important source of star positions in the southern hemisphere sky. This was in terms of both accuracy and the number of measurements made. In the years that followed its foundation, the observatory’s laborious work led to important scientific discoveries.