SANSA Space Science, previously the Hermanus Magnetic Observatory (HMO) is

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

's national

geomagnetic Earth's magnetic field, also known as the geomagnetic field, is the magnetic field that extends from structure of Earth, Earth's interior out into space, where it interacts with the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emanating from ...

research facility. The observatory is situated in the town of

Hermanus Hermanus (; originally called ''Hermanuspietersfontein'', but shortened in 1902 as the name was too long for the postal service

(

Overstrand Local Municipality Overstrand Municipality (; ) is a local municipality (South Africa), local municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is located along the Atlantic coast between Cape Town and Cape Agulhas, within the Overberg District Municipali ...

) in the

Western Cape Province The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabi ...

and forms part of the

South African National Space Agency The South African National Space Agency (SANSA) is South Africa's government agency responsible for the promotion and development of aeronautics and aerospace space research. It fosters cooperation in space-related activities and research in sp ...

. The observatory is an active participant in the

International Real-time Magnetic Observatory Network The International Real-time Magnetic Observatory Network (INTERMAGNET) is a world-wide consortium of institutes operating ground-based magnetometers recording the absolute level of the Earth's time-varying magnetic field, to an agreed set of stan ...

, one of a large number magnetic observatories which monitor and model variations of the Earth's magnetic field. The HMO consists of four operational groups: *

Space Physics Space physics, also known as space plasma physics, is the study of naturally occurring plasmas within Earth's upper atmosphere and the rest of the Solar System. It includes the topics of aeronomy, aurorae, planetary ionospheres and magnetospheres, ...

* Geomagnetism *

Technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

Science Outreach Science outreach, also called education and public outreach (EPO or E/PO) or simply public outreach, is an umbrella term for a variety of activities by research institutes, universities, and institutions such as science museums, aimed at promotin ...

Since 1957 the observatory has been operating

neutron monitor A neutron monitor is a ground-based Particle detector, detector designed to measure the number of high-energy charged Subatomic particle, particles striking the Earth's atmosphere from outer space. For historical reasons the incoming particles are c ...

s. Currently this is being done on behalf of the

North-West University The North-West University (NWU) is a public research university located on three campuses in Potchefstroom, Mahikeng and Vanderbijlpark in South Africa. The university came into existence through the merger in 2004 of the Potchefstroom Univer ...

and consists of 12

Chalk River Chalk River (2016 population: 1029) is a community located within the town of Laurentian Hills in Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Upper Ottawa Valley along Highway 17 (Ontario), Highway 17 (Trans-Canada Highway), inland ...

neutron counter tubes.

References

External links

SANSA Space Science Website
Space science organizations Space program of South Africa Overstrand Local Municipality {{observatory-stub

See also

References

External links