Astronomy in Africa to feature prominently at international meeting of astronomers

Professional astronomers from 22 other African countries will meet in Cape Town to present their groundbreaking work in astronomy research, communication, education and development.

ASTRONOMY research being conducted in Africa will feature prominently at the International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly 2024 to be held in Cape Town from August 6 to 15. The General Assembly is the world’s largest international meeting of astronomers and will be held on the African continent for the first time in the IAU’s 105-year history.

While South Africans and results from the country’s MeerKAT radio telescope and South African Large Telescope (SALT) are expected to feature prominently on the meeting programme, more than 225 professional astronomers from 22 other African countries will also present their groundbreaking work in astronomy research, communication, education and development.

Dr Meryem Guennoun, Morocco’s first female astronomer, is an accomplished astrophysicist at the Oukaïmeden Observatory in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. This optical observatory is being used to conduct the Morocco Oukaïmeden Sky Survey, a survey of small solar system bodies through which more than 100 new asteroids have been detected. Dr Guennoun specialises in meteor observations and is keenly interested in their parent bodies and their association with asteroids. Dr Guennoun will present the methodologies and successes of the Moroccan meteor observation network in accurately pinpointing the origins of meteors and forecasting potential impact zones on Earth.

Rwanda’s Dr Pheneas Nkundabakura is a blazar man. A blazar is a galaxy with an intensely bright centre, containing a supermassive black hole, that emits fast-moving jets of charged particles which happen to be pointing directly at the observing telescope or viewer. Blazars are some of the hottest and most energetic objects in the universe and emit high-energy gamma rays which are the smallest but most energetic waves in the electromagnetic spectrum. These waves are so small that they can pass through the space within atoms and so cannot be captured and reflected by mirrors. Dr Nkundabakura will share how he has used data from gamma-ray telescopes, such as NASA’s Gamma Ray Space Telescope and its retired Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, to study the nature and behaviour of blazars. Dr Nkundabakura obtained his PhD in Astrophysics from the University of the Free State in South Africa and returned to Rwanda where he is currently an Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Rwanda in Kigali.

At the start of August 2018, 40 NASA scientists headed to Senegal to collaborate with 20 local scientists to exploit a stellar occultation – when a space object is directly lined up with a distant star – to observe the shape of Kuiper Belt object, Arrokoth, set to be observed by NASA’s New Horizons probe on 1 January the next year. In July 2024, Senegal launched its first satellite, GaindéSat-1A, an Earth observation satellite that will collect data to help with natural resources and land management, disaster prevention, agriculture, firefighting efforts, flood management, and erosion control. Senegal’s Salma Sylla, a PhD student at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar, is leveraging the excitement of Senegal’s increasing role in astronomy and space sciences on the African continent to establish astronomy clubs around the country. She is part of a collaboration called ORION Astro Lab, implemented in collaboration with Madagascar, that aims to create a dynamic, competent and sustainable network of astronomy clubs in Senegal. Sylla will share the work of ORION Astro Lab to train 20 astronomy club leaders in Senegal in leadership, project management and astronomy content with support from the IAU’s Office for Astronomy Outreach.

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Algeria’s Jamal Mimouni, Immediate Past President of the African Astronomical Society (AfAS) and Head of Astrophysics at the University of Constantine I in Constantine, will shed light on the dire challenges faced by academic communities in conflict zones. Using the poignant example of the UNESCO Palestine Chair in Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Sciences, which has seen its home institution in Gaza destroyed and many of its students become refugees or lose their lives, Jamal will emphasise the critical role played by academic institutions in rebuilding conflict zones and the need to protect research infrastructure during times of conflict.

Astronomy and space enthusiasts can find more stories about astronomy and astronomers in Africa by browsing through the full IAU General Assembly 2024 programme at https://astronomy2024.org/.

Registration for in-person and full online participation in the meeting is still open and, in another first, the IAU will allow anyone with internet access to watch sessions in pre-recorded or live format on YouTube.

The IAU General Assembly is proudly hosted by the National Research Foundation with strong support from the Department of Science and Innovation and the African Astronomical Society. Key sponsors include the Square Kilometre Array Observatory, Brand South Africa, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Amazon Web Services, the American Institute of Physics, European Space Agency and the Simons Foundation.

Visit https://astronomy2024.org/ to register and view the full IAU General Assembly 2024 programme, or email info@astronomy2024.org for more information about the event.