EN - Educational (Strategic Plan) - Flipbook - Page 23
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MONITORING
VEGETATION
WITH SIMULATED
SATELLITES
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NEW GALAXIES
IDENTIFIED
Dissertation shows
role replicated
satellites can play
A team of scientists including
in reaching South
UCT have identified 20 new
Africa’s vegetation
galaxies using the MeerKAT
monitoring goals.
telescope.
The work, carried out by UCT SpaceLab
master’s student Brendon Maongera,
focused on building a simulated satellite
camera and assessing and monitoring its
effectiveness using a testbench – a special
station developed to test a mechanism
using software and hardware tools.
The goal was to identify the benefits of using
a replicated satellite for capacity building, and
to showcase how it can benefit vegetation
monitoring in South Africa.
The project will add to the advantages of
using space applications in ways that have
“never been thought of before”, to help
solve some of the continent’s challenges,
said Maongera.
It also offers students the opportunity
to learn special skills such as spacecraft
modelling and satellite operations, and teaches
them how to use satellite software currently
being employed in the space industry.
“This will help us with new research on
space that is likely to benefit our country, our
continent and the world,” Maongera said.
A team of scientists representing three
South African universities, including
UCT, were pleasantly surprised when
their usual studies of the sky revealed a
rather unusual find: 20 new, previously
unidentified galaxies.
The serendipitous revelation was
detected by members of the MeerKAT
International GHz Tiered Extragalactic
Exploration (MIGHTEE) project team.
The team of scientists study the
demographics, evolution and conditions of
galaxies in a variety of environments.
Their recent, ultra-cool discovery was
made possible by the ingenuity of the
MeerKAT telescope – the South African
precursor telescope to the Square
Kilometre Array (SKA).
“The discovery cements the leading role
that UCT plays in many MeerKAT projects,
which provide a rich environment for
discoveries and research excellence to
thrive,” said the project’s Dr Bradley Frank,
from the Department of Astronomy.
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