Episode 83: Celebrating 20 Years of SALT

Jacinta and Francois wrap up Season 6 of The Cosmic Savannah with this exciting and reflective episode, discussing the history, science and legacy of the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) which celebrated it’s 20th anniversary in November of 2025. The team is joined by Professor David Buckley from the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), who served as the project scientist for the SALT project. In this episode, we discuss the full evolution of SALT, form idea to instrument and all the chaos along the way and also what the future holds for SALT and South African astronomy. Join us for this fascinating look at the history and continued work of SALT! Check out the SALT website for more info about the celebration: https://www.salt.ac.za/2025/11/05/sal... Acknowledgements Podcast Manager: Francois Campher Podcast Assistant Manager: Kaashifa Saloojee Social Media Manager: Sumari HvN Transcript: Sisa Shibane Audio Editing: Nick Rushton Join us for this exciting episode of The Cosmic Savannah! For more info, pics, links and the transcript, check out the show notes at www.thecosmicsavannah.com. Accurate subtitles are provided for auto-translation into different languages. Find us on social media:   / cosmicsavannah     / cosmicsavannah     / cosmicsavannah