Who We Are
The Friends of the Cape Town Observatory is a group of people interested in Astronomy and in preserving the important Astronomical heritage of South Africa, restoring it for the benefit of the public.
It is composed of members from the South African Astronomical Observatory and others who want to have fun restoring the old telescopes.
We wish to share the amazing past, present and future of Astronomy in The Cape.
What We Do
We restore the historical telescopes at the Cape Town Observatory. We will also get involved in the upgrading of the visitor facilities such as the museum.
The McClean, which is the magnificent telescope beneath the largest dome on site, at the moment needs special attention. The unique hydraulic mechanism which raises and lowers the floor has never been overhauled since it was installed over 100 years ago. Our group is a focus for looking after these amazing instruments.
Current Projects
Right now we are looking for engineers to assess the requirement for renovating the shutters on the dome of the McClean telescope, and to examine its hydraulic mechanism. We are at the planning stage of operations, and need to know what the priorities are, time and cost involved.
In addition to the old McClean telescope there are several others on site requiring less extensive and specialised restoration. These projects will be addressed in due course, but at the moment the largest telescope, the McClean, is in need of urgent attention.