Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) Overview. The Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) is a 10-metre class optical telescope designed mainly for spectroscopy. (see SALT Key Performance Criteria for more details). It consists of 91 hexagonal mirror segments each with a 1-metre inscribed diameter, resulting in a total hexagonal mirror of 11.1 m by 9.8 m. The SALT telescope collects light from astronomical objects and accurately focuses it onto the telescope focal plane. It is located at the South African Astronomical Observatory near Sutherland, South Africa , at an elevation of 1,798 metres (5,899 feet). Located and operated at SAAO outside Sutherland, it has an 11m wide hexagonal primary mirror array, comprising 91 individual 1m hexagonal mirrors. From there the light proceeds into an optical instrument while the telescope tracks the relative movement of the object across the sky to maximise exposure time. Southern African Large Telescope (SALT), largest telescope in the Southern Hemisphere, with a mirror measuring 11.1 by 9.8 metres (36.4 by 32.2 feet). Although very similar to the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) in Texas, SALT has a redesigned optical system resulting in … The telescope has been in full science operation since 2011 and is realising its huge potential as Africa’s Giant Eye on the Universe. The Hubble Space Telescope is one of the most amazing machines in orbit right now. Rutgers University is a partner in the Southern African Large Telescope consortium, SALT, a group of countries and universities that have jointly constructed a 10-meter optical telescope optimized for spectroscopic work that closely resembles the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) at McDonald Observatory in west Texas. The answer to this question is simple: the object does not take up much space on your eye's screen (retina). SALT’s novel design as a fixed-elevation (53 degrees above horizon) telescope constrain the field of view to an annulus covering 12.5% of the sky at any one time, or 70% of the observable sky. Why can't you see an object that is far away? ­To understand how telescopes work, let's ask the following question. Southern African Large Telescope. For example, why can't you read the writing on a dime when it is 150 feet (55 meters) away with your naked eyes? SALT is funded by a consortium of international partners from South Africa, the United States, Germany, Poland, India, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Learn more about the Hubble Space Telescope and how it works. The telescope structure is a very stiff 45 ton tubular steel structure which rests on four feet.