Meerkat National Park
National park around the Square Kilometre Array radio astronomy facility in the Northern Cape / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Meerkat National Park is a large National Park in the Northern Cape, South Africa, that encompasses the Square Kilometre Array's MeerKAT, PAPER and HERA telescopes.
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Meerkat National Park | |
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Location | Karoo Hoogland and Kareeberg municipalities, Northern Cape, South Africa |
Nearest city | Carnarvon |
Coordinates | 30°41′29.2″S 21°23′24.0″E |
Area | 135,245 hectares (334,200 acres) |
Designated | 27 March 2020; 4 years ago (2020-03-27) |
Administrator | South African National Parks |
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To ensure long term viability of the Karoo site for the Square Kilometre Array project and other radio astronomy instruments, the Parliament of South Africa passed the Astronomy Geographic Advantage Act, 2007. The act gives the Minister of Science and Technology the authority to protect areas, through regulations, that are of strategic national importance for astronomy and related scientific endeavours.[1][2][3][4] The park does not allow visitors.[5]