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11 October 2019 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
Staff and Students from the Department of Physics
Staff and students from the UFS Department of Physics with parts of the newly arrived astronomical spectrograph for the Boyden Observatory 1,5-m telescope. From the left, are: Dr Pat van Heerden, Daniel Kulik (honours student), Joleen Els (third-year student), Justin Cooper (honours student), Helene Szegedi (lecturer), Professor Petrus Meintjes, Dr Brian van Soelen, and Dr Richard Gray.
Stable atmospheric environments and near perfect weather conditions were the main reasons for the establishment of the Boyden Observatory a few kilometres outside Bloemfontein. This astronomical research observatory and science education centre is managed by the Department of Physics at the University of the Free State (UFS).

With the newly acquired astronomical spectrograph for the Boyden Observatory 1,5-m telescope, scientists will be able to gain visual access to both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere skies.

Collaboration with expert in stellar spectroscopy 

The spectrograph, mainly developed and built by Dr Richard Gray, will be used collaboratively for astronomical research by the UFS and the Appalachian State University (ASU) in North Carolina, where Dr Gray is based. 

Dr Gray is a world-renowned expert in stellar spectroscopy and leading author of one of the most influential textbooks on stellar spectroscopy, Stellar Spectral Classification, with co-author Christopher J Corbally.

Dr Gray recently received a Fulbright Scholarship from the Fulbright Foundation to spend a full year in the UFS Department of Physics, where he will lecture several Astronomy classes and do research in collaboration with personnel of the UFS Astrophysics Research Group. He will also lead the assembly of the instrument over the next few weeks, working with personnel and students in the Department of Physics as well as the UFS Instrumentation Division.

According to Prof Pieter Meintjes, Senior Professor from the UFS Department of Physics, some components of the instrument have been developed and constructed by the university’s Instrumentation Division, with key components purchased from funding by the Directorate: Research Development at the UFS.

Unique capability in infrastructure 

“The availability of a sophisticated instrument of this nature on the 1,5-m telescope will place the UFS Astrophysics Group in an elite bracket in terms of the available infrastructure for astronomical research,” said Prof Meintjes.

He explained: “The combined polarimetric-spectroscopic capability in one single instrument is unique. Combined with the fact that it is hosted on a research instrument that is utilised and maintained exclusively by the UFS Astronomy Group in the Department of Physics, gives this group a competitive edge in relation to most international astronomy groups.” 

The instrument is valued at close to R1,5 million. 

The Boyden Observatory
The Boyden Observatory. (Photo:Supplied)

According to Prof Meintjes, the instrument will be mounted at the backend of the UFS Boyden 1,5-m telescope and will allow them to do simultaneous polarimetry and spectroscopy of astronomical sources. “This is vital for the research we are working on,” he said.

International collaboration and student development

The instrument also brings with it the possibility of forging international collaborations for research as well as student development. “This can advance the stature of the UFS as an internationally respected research-led tertiary institution,” said Prof Meintjes. 

The possibility of making the UFS Boyden 1,5-m telescope completely remote-controlled, is being investigated. “This will serve the observational needs of researchers from both the UFS and the ASU, with researchers at ASU able to access the telescope for their own in-house research programmes. The availability of such an instrument on the UFS 1,5-m telescope also opens up the possibility to accommodate visiting researchers from ASU or elsewhere in the world at Boyden,” said Prof Meintjes.

News Archive

Students excel in legal interpreting programme
2010-02-24

Prof. Ezekiel Moraka, Vice-Rector: External Relations at the UFS with one of the students who received a diploma.
Photo: Mangaliso Radebe


A success rate of 90% was achieved by the first group of 100 students that successfully completed the two-year Diploma in Legal Interpreting at the University of the Free State (UFS).

The group recently received their diplomas at the ceremony held on the Main Campus in Bloemfontein.

The programme, offered by the university’s Department of Afroasiatic Studies, Sign Language and Language Practice, in collaboration with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and Safety and Security Sector Education and Training Authority (SASSETA), is the only one of its kind in South Africa.

“The numbers that we are talking about here, if one looks at the needs of the country as such, is a small fraction,” said Advocate Simon Jiyane, Deputy Director General: Court Services in the Department of Justice.

“This is our first programme in collaboration with the UFS and I am hopeful it will lay a very solid foundation for other such programmes to follow.”

The diplomas were conferred by Prof. Ezekiel Moraka, Vice-Rector: External Relations at the UFS, on behalf of the Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Jonathan Jansen.

He urged the students to use their skills as qualified court interpreters in the context of the challenges that face South Africa such as HIV/Aids, racism, transformation, unemployment, poverty, job losses, and many other such challenges.

“This is the reality we are faced with, all of us,” he said. “It requires skilful and morally upright people to address it adequately and effectively. You are adding up to the number of skilful people in our country and that means you have a critical role to play.”

He said the UFS, as a societal structure, is equally affected by those challenges because of being accountable to and economically dependent on society.

He also urged the students to use their skills to make contributions to the processes of transformation that are underway at the UFS.

“For instance, the UFS as a national asset has to transform to that level of being a true national asset. We need your full participation in this process so that we can together ensure the relevance of this university as a true South African university,” he said.

Advocate Jiyane urged universities to also look at some of the initiatives that the government takes to improve service delivery. One such initiative is a pilot project focusing on the use of indigenous languages in courts.

“Its aim is to ensure that our courts begin to recognise all official languages in terms of conducting their business,” he said.

“It is our responsibility as a department that, through this project, we begin to build those languages so that they are on a par with the other languages that are being utilised in our courts.”

The department has permanently employed two of the students who received their diplomas, while one of them, Ms Nombulelo Esta Meki, was awarded a bursary by SASSETA to study for a BA in Legal Interpreting. Ms Meki was the top achiever of the programme with an average of 86%.

Media Release:
Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt@ufs.ac.za  
3 March 2010

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