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What is Astronomy?

Astronomy is a branch of science that studies the universe ,celestial objects and celestial phenomena. It applies mathematics, physics, and chemistry in an effort to explain the origin of those objects and phenomena.
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Who are we?

We are a vibrate community committed in research, teaching as well as advancing the vision of the University that we are part of
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Research

The department specialises in high speed photometry and spectroscopy of variable stars, in long period variable stars and Galactic Structure, neutral hydrogen and dark matter in nearby galaxies, star formation and galaxy evolution.
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Partnership

The department of Astronomy has strong ties and collaborate with various astronomical research facilities (e.g. SARAO, SAAO, SA SKA and MeerKAT) and universities local and abroad.
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Career Opportunities

Graduates in astronomy are equipped to conduct cutting edge research at various universities and astronomical research facilities as researchers, scientists or telescope operators, some venture out in software developers in various fields.

ASTRONOMY AT UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN

The Department of Astronomy at the University of Cape Town, established in 1970, is the only stand-alone Department of Astronomy in South Africa.

We are a research-intensive department exploring the evolving and transient Universe through scientific leadership in large international projects involving world-class facilities such as MeerKAT, SALT and a wide range of ground- and space-based telescopes.

The two broad research themes of the department include Extragalactic Astronomy and Stellar Astrophysics. We offer an undergraduate major in Astrophysics and are a host node of the National Astrophysics and Space Science Programme (NASSP) offering an Honours degree and Master’s degree in Astrophysics. Further postgraduate options include a Master’s by dissertation only, and PhD under supervision of faculty members in the department.

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Press Release

 

IDaVIE

IDIA and the Department of Astronomy at the University of Cape Town (UCT) are proud to announce the first public release of the innovative iDaVIE software by the IDIA Vislab. This milestone marks a significant advancement in astronomy data visualisation and analysis, offering researchers a powerful tool to enhance their work using Virtual Reality, click here for further details

Latest News

Dr Rajohnson winning the Gruber Fellowship Awards 2025

Gruber-Fellowship

Sambatriniaina Hagiriche Aycha Rajohnson is an astronomer from Madagascar who earned her PhD in 2024 from the University of Cape Town. Since January 2025, she has been a postdoctoral researcher at INAF, Cagliari, Italy. Her research plans include utilise MeerKAT telescope's spectral line data to investigate gas stripping in Fornax cluster galaxies, aiming to distinguish between tidal and hydrodynamical interactions causing HI tails. The study will analyze HI distributions, galaxy properties, and environmental conditions to understand morphological transformations and quenching processes in low-mass clusters. She intends to use the grant for conference attendance, research and observing visits, and publication costs. for futher details please refer to this article 

 Dr Delhaize nominated for the NSTF award 2025

cosmic-sahannah

The Cosmic Savannah podcast team, a nominee for the Communication Award of the prestigious NSTF-South32 Awards – the Science Oscars of South Africa (SA). The Awards recognise outstanding contributions to Science, Engeneering, Technology (SET) and Innovation in SA since 1998.

Dr Jacinta Delhaize, Co-producer and Co-host; Lecturer: Dept of Astronomy at the University of Cape Town.
For providing listeners worldwide with a behind-the-scenes peek into Africa’s dynamic astronomy and astrophysics landscape, showcasing its groundbreaking discoveries, incredible telescopes and diverse voices, and inspiring the next generation of African scientists.