Cosmos Diary

A blog by the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and partners in conjunction with the “African Cosmos: Stellar Arts” exhibition opening in June 2012.

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.

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.