Astronomy in Africa- News and Updates

Satellite image of dust leaving the Sahara; Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association

• Last week, residents of Florida reported seeing hazy skies that were the result of dust travel from the African continent. The dust, coming from the Sahara desert, was carried across the Atlantic and landed in Southern Florida as a result of a mix of meteorological conditions.
• This week, Algeria set a deadline to accept construction bids for solar farms as as a step towards the nation’s progressive goal of 650 megawatts of solar energy by 2015. Similar efforts are underway in other nations in North Africa, including Egypt and Morocco.

Astronomy in Africa- News and Updates

Visualization of SKA dishes at night. Credit: SKA Organisation/TDP/DRAO/Swinburne Astronomy Productions

• Yesterday marked the end of a two-day summit hosted at the University of Pretoria to discuss the future of the SKA South Africa site. Astronomers and government officials discussed the benefits that would arise from the project, with human capital development named as the priority.
• This week Morocco hosts the Global Hands On Universe conference, which brings together teachers, scientists and educators from high schools, universities, research centers, and science centers from around the world to discuss various topics in science education. Global astronomy projects and the connections between astronomy and culture will be key points of discussion for this week’s conference.

Astronomy in Africa- News and Updates

Lightning over West Africa; Credit: ESA/NASA

• NASA has just released an image (above) of a lightning flash over West Africa, as seen from the International Space Station.
• The chairman of Egypt’s National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics has just announced that the Islamic holy month of Ramadan will begin on July 20 this year. The starting point of the holy month is determined according to astronomical calculations.

Astronomy in Africa- News and Updates

Slooh image of asteroid passing by the Canary Islands (Credit: Slooh Space Camera)

• Last Thursday, a giant asteroid passed about 3 miles (5 kilometers) away from Earth. A telescope called the Slooh Space Cameria captured the above image of the near asteroid from an observatory on the Canary Islands off of the west coast of Africa. The asteroid, named Asteroid 2012 LZ1, was approximately 1,650 feet (500 meters) wide.
• Farmers on the Northern Cape of South Africa are continuing to voice their concerns about their extent of access to telecommunications, an issue that will grow more complicated once SKA begins groundwork. In 2007, the South African government passed the Astronomy Geographic Advantage Act to preserve the radio quiet in the area.

Astronomy in Africa- News and Updates

The Solar Impulse flying over Morocco. Credit: MATIC/Solar Thermal

• Last week a solar-powered plane landed in Morocco after completing the first transcontinental journey for an aircraft of its kind. This represents one step toward Morocco’s national plan to develop 2000 megawatts of solar energy capacity by 2020.
• The Board of the African Renaissance Fund has approved funding for the initial work to construct a network of radio telescopes (African VLBI Network) in SKA partner countries, which include Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia. Other enterprises with socio-economic benefits will be able to use the roads, electricity and other infrastructure leading to the remote sites where the telescopes will be constructed.

Astronomy in Africa- News and Updates

Karoo region, site for SKA in South Africa. Credit: SKA South Africa

• European and African radio astronomers met last week  to explore ways to develop further alliances around radio astronomy between both continents. Astronomers from both continents are establishing the AERAP alliance, The African-European Radio Astronomy Platform, designed to leverage radio astronomy to improve knowledge transfer and stimulate competitiveness across both continents.
• SKA’s location in South Africa may pose problems for the possibility of hydraulic fracturing— or fracking— being investigated by gas company Royal Dutch Shell and petrochemical group Sasol. Last year, South Africa imposed a fracking moratorium on oil and gas exploration licenses in the Karoo region to examine the concerns of environmentalists.

Astronomy in Africa- News and Updates

Map showing the core and remote locations for SKA in Africa. Credit: SKA South Africa

The major news of the week is the final decision on the SKA site, which will include both the African and Australian continents, the two regions competing for the bid. In making the decision, South Africa was chosen as the “preferred” site, hosting a greater proportion of the dishes. Design and pre-construction will begin in 2013, with the first phase of SKA being available for research in 2020. SKA South Africa’s Justin Jones has responded to the news by answering questions on the significance of the decision and the impact it will bear on South Africa and the African continent at large.

 

Astronomy in Africa- News and Updates

Satellite in Kuntunse to be converted for radio astronomy Credit: SKA Africa

• Last week, Ghana launched a Space Science and Technology Centre in Kuntunse to develop projects and programs in the field of astronomy, astrophysics, and more. The South African Department of Science and Technology and Vodafone have supported the establishment of this center and the development of the Ghana Radio Astronomy Project, which would collect data through the Kuntunse station as part of a network of antennas around the world.

• South African Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, will next week become the first entrepreneur to dock his own orbiter, Dragon, with the International Space Station. With no formal training in rocketry, Musk is a “self-taught” designer. SpaceX “aims to develop a family of launch vehicles which will ultimately reduce the cost and increase the reliability of space access by a factor of ten.”

Astronomy in Africa- News and Updates

Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory; Credit: M Gaylard / HartRAO

• Last week it was announced that first point-to-point network will be established between Europe’s GÉANT and African UbuntuNet Alliance which will allow astronomers across continents to work together via the Joint Institute for VLBI in the Netherlands and the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory in South Africa. The CEO of the UbuntuNet Alliance, Dr F.F. (Tusu) Tusubira, noted: “Providing a point-to-point link between Hartebeesthoek and JIVE in the Netherlands benefits the entire global radio astronomy community, as it enables faster, more detailed observations to be shared in real-time and consequently dramatically increases our knowledge of the universe.”
• Researchers in Finland have discovered that the Cairo Calendar, developed by ancient Egyptian astronomers to create a precise tracking of days, documents a cycle of 29.6 days (a lunar month), as well as a second cycle of 2.85 days, which is proposed to correspond to the variability of Algol, a bright star visible to the naked eye in the constellation of Perseus. The Egyptian data can be used to better understand the change in Algol’s behavior from ancient times to modern times.

Astronomy in Africa- News and Updates

Titan's Ontario Lacus and Namibia's Etosha Pan Credit: NASA/JPL/ESA

• Researchers in France have discovered new details about a large lake named Ontario Lacus on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. New research indicates that the lakebed surface is exposed and that the liquid level (methane) within the lake has varied. These characteristics make Ontario Lacus remarkably similar to northern Namibia’s Etosha Pan, a lake that is also dry for much of the year, occasionally filling with a shallow layer of water which evaporates.

• Last week in Cape Town, Germany and South Africa announced they would launch a “Year of Science” in order to strengthen science collaboration between the two nations. 41 projects in various science fields, including astronomy, will be funded. The launch included an astronomy symposium, titled “Innovating the Future; Reaching for the Stars.”