Stars stars stars (and some galaxies)

During the months of October and November 2017, a number of MeerLICHT scientists used the telescope for commissioning observations, to assess the image quality and the depth achieved in a 1 minute exposure in all filters.
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Perfect alignment

Rik ter Horst (ASTRON) spent one week in Sutherland to test the optics of MeerLICHT with on-sky observations and to align the primary mirror of MeerLICHT to perfection.
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MeerLICHT arrives in South Africa

On 1 July 2017, the MeerLICHT telescope arrived in South Africa. Here you see the telescope all boxed up at Cape Town international airport before it is transported to the Sutherland station of the South African Astronomical Observatory.

Telescope meets mount

On Monday 30 January 2017, the MeerLICHT telescope and counterweight were lifted into the observatory dome of the Radboud University, where the telescope and counterweight were connected to the telescope mount.

Cooled counterweight under construction in Nijmegen

Work on the cooled counterweight of MeerLICHT is progressing very well at Radboud University in Nijmegen. The MeerLICHT electronics will be housed in the counterweight of the telescope where excess heat will be removed through a water cooling system.

Telescope mount arrives in Nijmegen

The MeerLICHT telescope mount – produced by FORNAX in Hungary – has arrived in Nijmegen and was lifted into one of the observatory domes on 3 October 2016 for extensive testing, and integration with the MeerLICHT telescope.

Telescope assembled at ASTRON

The MeerLICHT telescope has been assembled for the first time at the Optical and Near-Infrared laboratory of ASTRON. Now it is time to test the alignment of the telescope’s optics and prepare for the first on-sky tests

MeerLICHT in the news

The MeerLICHT project is featured in the Mail and Guardian in an article by Sarah Wild.

Oxford astrophysics joins MeerLICHT

The astrophysics group of the University of Oxford has joined the MeerLICHT project in September 2015. Central of Oxford’s involvement in MeerLICHT is Prof Fender and his research group working on radio transients. Prof Fender is also the co-prin

MeerLICHT consortium MoU signed

The MeerLICHT consortium agreement was signed on 28 November 2014 by the founding members of MeerLICHT, namely the University of Cape Town (represented by Prof Danie Visser, deputy vice chancellor for research and internationalisation), Radboud Univers