MeerKAT reveals the Milky Way’s centre

The article explains how moving plates and engraved scales model the visible sky for particular latitudes.

Users could solve problems involving stars, sunrise, direction, calendars and the hours of prayer.

Metalworking, calligraphy, geometric design and numerical tables were all necessary to produce a reliable instrument.

They expanded astrolabe theory, manufacture and uses before the instrument circulated further through Africa, Asia and Europe.

The 64-dish radio telescope officially opened near Carnarvon in the Northern Cape.

The inauguration marked a major South African contribution to global astronomy.

The array became a precursor to the wider Square Kilometre Array observatory.

The publication presents astronomy as a product of exchange among Chinese, Indian, Persian, Greek, Arab and Central Asian traditions.

Scholars compared inherited tables and models rather than simply copying them, producing new observations and calculations.

Large instruments, repeated measurements, mathematical tables and trained observers depended on patronage and coordinated labour.