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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

Over 300 diplomas in Financial Planning Law awarded
2012-06-28

 

Adv. Wessel Oosthuizen, Director of the Centre for Financial Planning Law; Marilize Putter, top student in the Advanced Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning Law, Jenny White, top student in die Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning Law and Prof. Rita-Marie Jansen, Acting Dean: Faculty of Law at the UFS.
Photo: Stephen Collet
28 June 2012

The Centre for Financial Planning Law (CFPL) in the Faculty of Law at the University of the Free State (UFS) awarded 342 Postgraduate and Advanced Postgraduate Diplomas in Financial Planning at this year’s graduation ceremony. The ceremony was held at the Sandtion Conference Centre in Johannesburg on 19 June 2012.

Some of the distinguished guests who attended were Dr Khotso Mokhele, Chancellor of the UFS, Dr Derek Swemmer, Registrar of the UFS, Prof. Nicky Morgan, Vise-Rector: Operations at the UFS, Prof. Helena van Zyl, Director of the UFS’s Business School, Prof. Rita-Marie Jansen, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Law and Adv. Wessel Oosthuizen, Director of the CFPL. The Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa, Mr Godfrey Nti, and the Chairperson of the Board, Mr Solly Keetse, were also present at the graduation ceremony.

Marilize Putter was named as the top student in the Advanced Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning Law, with Jenny White the top student in die Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning Law.

The UFS remains the largest institution in this field. The UFS’s Centre for Financial Planning Law is also the only institution in South Africa that presents the Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning Law as a pure specialisation diploma.

Donors who made the event possible include:

  •  Craig Bentley of Alexander Forbes
  •  Dev Chetty of Liberty Life
  •  Henry van Deventer of Acsis
  •  Tessa Pappenfuss of Lexis Nexis
  •  Bertie Nel of Momentum

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