Development in astronomy and space science in Africa

Pović, M.; Backes, Michael; Baki, P.; Baratoux, D.; Tessema, Solomon Belay; Benkhaldoun, Z.; Bode, M. F.; Klutse, Nana Ama Browne; Charles, P.; Govender, Kevin; Groningen, E. van; Jurua, Edward; Mamo, Alemiye; Manxoyi, Sivuyile; McBride, V. A.; Mimouni, J.; Nemaungani, Takalani; Nkundabakura, Pheneas; Okere, Bonaventure; Saad, S. M.; Simpemba, Prospery C.; Walwa, Tefera; Yilma, Abdissa

doi:10.1038/s41550-018-0525-x

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…Mauritius, in collaboration with India, is operating a radio telescope since 1992. Recently, Nigeria successfully assembled and installed 3m radio telescope mainly for HCD purposes (e.g., Pović et al 2018). Namibia is now planning to build the first millimeter-wave radio telescope in Africa together with Netherlands (e.g., Backes et al 2017).…”

Section: Astronomy Developments In Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1m telescope has been moved from La Silla in Chile to Burkina Faso who is now trying to build its first astronomical observatory (e.g., Carignan 2012). Different countries are now working on site testing for development of new optical observatories, including Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania (e.g., Pović et al 2018). Regarding development of gamma-ray astronomy in Africa, H.E.S.S observatory in Namibia with its five Cherenkov telescopes is still one of the best ground-based facilities in the field of high-energy astronomy.…”

Section: Astronomy Developments In Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result of that the very first African Space Strategy has been developed under the AU, recognising space science and astronomy as important for achieving SDGs. In addition, many African countries are putting important efforts in developing astronomy and space science in terms of research, institutional development, infrastructure, human capacity development (HCD), and policies (e.g., Pović et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Development of astronomy research and education in Africa and Ethiopia

Pović

2019

Proc. IAU

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Africa has amazing potential due to natural (such as dark sky) and human resources for scientific research in astronomy and space science. At the same time, the continent is still facing many difficulties, and its countries are now recognising the importance of astronomy, space science and satellite technologies for improving some of their principal socio-economic challenges. The development of astronomy in Africa (including Ethiopia) has grown significantly over the past few years, and never before it was more possible to use astronomy for education, outreach, and development as it is now. However, much still remains to be done. This paper will summarise the recent developments in astronomy research and education in Africa and Ethiopia and will focus on how working together on the development of science and education can we fight poverty in the long term and increase our possibilities of attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in future for benefit of all.

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Section: Astronomy Developments In Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Astronomy Developments In Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Development of astronomy research and education in Africa and Ethiopia

Pović

2019

Proc. IAU

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“…Today, however, the contribution of the Arab world is not as significant as it used to be (Al-Naimiy 2011; Guessoum 2013). Although there are some great initiatives across the Arab countries, the overall status is much less than desired (Pović et al 2018;Benkhaldoun 2018). Figure 1 shows the papers published by various Arab countries and the percentage of each country's contribution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Arab Astronomical Society (ArAS): Developing Astrophysics Research in the Arab World

et al. 2018

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The Arab Astronomical Society (ArAS) was officially created during the constitutional assembly held in Marrakech (Morocco) on November 30, 2016, and legally recognized on May 15, 2017. ArAS is composed of a group of Arab researchers and students in the field of astrophysics who aim to develop research in this field in the Arab world (22 countries). ArAS is working on bridging the gap between the Arab astrophysicists in the Arab world and those around the world by organizing collaborative workshops and international scientific meetings, offering scholarships and developing graduate programs in astrophysics. Presently, the Society is working on establishing personal and material scientific infrastructure in the Arab world by training advanced undergraduate and graduate students in astrophysics and stimulating the building of new telescopes on the best sites in the Arab world. This will be accomplished through the hosting of specialized schools and conferences in astrophysics, international collaborations, facilitation of students’ and post-docs’ training in international research centres and universities, the establishment of prizes in astronomy to honour leading Arab scientists in astronomy and to motivate junior researchers to present notable works in astronomy. In this work, we present the on-going ArAS activities as well as future projects. ArAS is a young but energetic organization which is welcoming collaborations and partnership with other groups.

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“…AGN are variable on all time scales: from optical quasi-periods of several years [8] down to gamma-ray flares lasting only minutes [9] and even limiting the size of the emission region to be smaller than 20% of the gravitational radius of the central black hole [10]. This motivates intensive efforts for monitoring the variability of AGN across the electromagnetic spectrum.Following recent positive developments of astronomy in Africa in general [11] and Namibia in particular [12], the Africa Millimetre Telescope (AMT) project aims to build a mm-wave radio telescope in Namibia [13]. It will be the first telescope of its kind on the African continent and one of only few in the Southern hemisphere.…”

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Millimeter-Wave Monitoring of Active Galactic Nuclei with the Africa Millimetre Telescope

2019

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Active Galactic Nuclei are the dominant sources of gamma rays outside our Galaxy and also candidates for being the source of ultra-high energy cosmic rays. In addition to being emitters of broad-band non-thermal radiation throughout the electromagnetic spectrum, their emission is highly variable on timescales from years to minutes. Hence, high-cadence monitoring observations are needed to understand their emission mechanisms. The Africa Millimetre Telescope is planned to be the first mm-wave radio telescope on the African continent and one of few in the Southern hemisphere. Further to contributing to the global mm-VLBI observations with the Event Horizon Telescope, substantial amounts of observation time will be available for monitoring observations of Active Galactic Nuclei. Here we review the scientific scope of the Africa Millimetre Telescope for monitoring of Active Galactic Nuclei at mm-wavelengths. PACS: 95.85.Bh; 98.54.Cm; 98.54.Gr; 98.62.Nx IntroductionActive Galactic Nuclei (AGN) and more particularly the subclass of blazars have been a major topic of research throughout the electromagnetic spectrum for the past fifty years. Despite significant progress in understanding the blazar phenomenon [1], many open questions remain. Several apparent differences could be attributed to their non-spherical structure and the orientation of the highly relativistic jets relative to the line of sight [2]. Still, the underlying particle acceleration and emission processes remain a matter of current research. Connected to the more than one hundred years of quest for the sources of the highest-energetic cosmic rays, hadronic emission scenarios are tested, e.g. [3,4], and recent coincident gamma-ray and neutrino detections point in that direction [5]. Even though, hadronic emission scenarios are not uncontested, as also the leptonic Synchrotron Self-Compton (SSC) model [6] is highly successful in explaining the broad-band spectral energy distribution (SED) for blazars, see e.g. [7]. AGN are variable on all time scales: from optical quasi-periods of several years [8] down to gamma-ray flares lasting only minutes [9] and even limiting the size of the emission region to be smaller than 20% of the gravitational radius of the central black hole [10]. This motivates intensive efforts for monitoring the variability of AGN across the electromagnetic spectrum.Following recent positive developments of astronomy in Africa in general [11] and Namibia in particular [12], the Africa Millimetre Telescope (AMT) project aims to build a mm-wave radio telescope in Namibia [13]. It will be the first telescope of its kind on the African continent and one of only few in the Southern hemisphere. The proposed site for the AMT is Mt. Gamsberg (23.34 • S, 16.23 • E) in the Khomas Highlands of Namibia, at a height of 2,347 m a.s.l. At very similar latitude to ALMA, this

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Development in astronomy and space science in Africa

Abstract: The development of astronomy and space science in Africa has grown significantly over the past few years. These advancements make the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals more achievable, and open up the possibility of new beneficial collaborations.

Cited by 15 publications

References 3 publications

Development of astronomy research and education in Africa and Ethiopia

Development of astronomy research and education in Africa and Ethiopia

The Arab Astronomical Society (ArAS): Developing Astrophysics Research in the Arab World

Millimeter-Wave Monitoring of Active Galactic Nuclei with the Africa Millimetre Telescope

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