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

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

's national

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

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 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 Municipality. The principal towns in the municipa ...

) 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 inhabitants in 2020 ...

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, 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 solar-terrestrial physics or space-plasma physics, is the study of plasmas as they occur naturally in the Earth's upper atmosphere (aeronomy) and within the Solar System. As such, it encompasses a far-ranging number of ...

* Geomagnetism *

Technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

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 promoting ...

Since 1957 the observatory has been operating

neutron monitor A neutron monitor is a ground-based detector designed to measure the number of high-energy charged particles striking the Earth's atmosphere from outer space. For historical reasons the incoming particles are called "cosmic rays", but in fact they a ...

s. Currently this is being done on behalf of the

North-West University af , Noordwes-Universiteit , image = https://www.nwu.ac.za/sites/www.nwu.ac.za/files/NWU-Logo-SW.png , motto = ''Dit Begin Alles Hier (Afrikaans)'' ''Gotlhe Go Simolola Fano (Setswana)'' , mottoeng ...

and consists of 12

Chalk River Chalk River (2016 population: 1029) is a small rural village, part of the Laurentian Hills municipality in Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Upper Ottawa Valley along Highway 17 (Trans-Canada Highway), inland (west) from ...

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