MeerKAT & Milky Way (MeerMelkweg?)

© 2016 Rob Millenaar

Having the MeerKAT array in my back yard (relatively speaking) doesn't make night-time photography there any easier. Selecting a moon-less night in good weather conditions when there is no observing done (now that observing operations have started and any camera interference is to be prevented) is challenging.

Yet, l recently I managed to do so, and here is just one of the many images I brought home. Of course the MeerKAT dish is the main star of the image, but the Milky Way backdrop is perfect for it. A simple head-lamp allowed me to light-paint the dish.

For this image I took three shots, 25 seconds exposure each and stitched them together vertically. On the lower left another telescope is visible, as a black outline in the light from the building complex behind Losberg hill.