Full Resolution Amanda Gulbis and ___ in the SALT control room. SALT has at least two people staffing it at night: an astronomer, and an operator. Amanda was one of six SALT astronomers for several years -- meaning that during her shift, she was responsible for making observations out of the queue.
SALT is very different from most classic telescopes: the astronomer awarded time rarely if ever actually goes to the telescope, and in most cases doesn't even know when their observations will execute. All the observing is done out of the queue, with the SALT astronomer choosing what to observe based on the target visibility, weather, science priority, and so forth.
