MONET/South

MONET/South is a robotic telescope stationed at Sutherland Observatory in the semi-desert Karoo region of South Africa, one of the country's premier dark-sky astronomy sites.

About MONET/South

The telescope has a 1.20-metre aperture and is owned and operated by the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (University of Göttingen) in Germany. It is fully internet-controllable, meaning astronomers and students can operate it remotely from anywhere in the world. MONET/South has a twin instrument, MONET/North, located at McDonald Observatory in Texas, giving the pair round-the-clock coverage of the sky.

Telescopes & research

Beyond professional research use, the MONET telescopes are notable for their role in education: schools and students can book observing time and control the telescope directly for outreach projects, making Southern Hemisphere astronomy accessible to classrooms far from Sutherland.

Location & getting there

MONET/South operates from the Sutherland Observatory site in South Africa's Northern Cape, an area prized internationally for its clear, dry air and minimal light pollution — the same conditions that make it home to several major telescopes.

Visiting MONET/South

Sutherland Observatory hosts visitor tours and stargazing programmes run by the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO). Check the SAAO's official visiting information before planning a trip, as access to individual instruments like MONET/South is typically limited to remote, internet-based observing rather than in-person tours of the telescope itself.

See your named star from here

A robotic, remotely operated telescope like MONET/South is a fitting way to picture how a named star's coordinates work: once you know a star's right ascension and declination, any telescope on Earth — robotic or otherwise — can be aimed at it. Name a star and look up its position in our catalogue.