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Africa and Astronomy

Africa and Astronomy. Charles H. McGruder III Western Kentucky University Chair of the International Committee of the National Society of Black Physicists. Outline. Background Astronomers and Telescopes in Africa NASSP – National Astrophysics and Space Science Program African Telescope

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Africa and Astronomy

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  1. Africa and Astronomy Charles H. McGruder III Western Kentucky University Chair of the International Committee of the National Society of Black Physicists

  2. Outline • Background • Astronomers and Telescopes in Africa • NASSP – National Astrophysics and Space Science Program • African Telescope • African Astronomical Society (AfAS) • South Africa: SAAO, Sutherland and SALT • Africa and SKA

  3. African Population • Second most-populous continent after Asia. • Rapid Population Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa • Current: 800 million • 2050: 1.7 billion • End of Century: 3 billion • Fasting Growing area in Population in 21st Century

  4. African Statistics • Religion (2050) • As many Muslims as in Asia • more than ½ of the world’s Christians • Second-largest continent • 3 x USA

  5. Astronomers • South Africa: 60 • Nigeria: 20-25 • Rest of Africa: 20 • Total: 100

  6. Telescopes • 16 research grade optical telescopes • South Africa: 11, Namibia: 3: Egypt: 1, Burkina Faso: 1 • Two Radio Telescopes: Nigeria and South Africa

  7. How does one increase the number of African astronomers? • South African answer • Create a central well-funded pipeline to the PhD. • National Astrophysics and Space Science Program (NASSP)

  8. NASSP • Purpose: to “Create an African network of astronomers bonded by the common experience of schooling and interlinked both professionally & personally”.

  9. NASSP • Housed at the University of Cape Town (UCT) • UCT ,146 top university in world, #1 in Africa • Panafrican: 43% of students non-South African • Professors come from 12 SA institutions • 2003-2009: 94 honors, 60% Master’s/PhD

  10. Bottleneck • Not enough PhD supervisors

  11. Examples • NASSP: 60% go on to Master’s/PhD • Ethiopia: 22 Master’s in Astrophysics no supervisors in observational astronomy • Kenya: 20 students in first year astronomy

  12. Easing the Bottleneck • Non-African supervisors • No brain drain • Can work? • Workshop in January 2011 at AAU.

  13. Easing the Bottleneck • How can we attract supervisors? • Providing a first rate African Telescope • Working with Swedes for money

  14. African Telescope • Train the next generation of African astronomers • Contribution to modern astronomy. • Robotic telescope of 2-3 meters in diameter, photometric and spectroscopic

  15. African Telescope • Sensitive to the near infrared • We need to be high and dry • Africa has mountains ranges with high mountains

  16. High Mountains of Africa • Kilimanjaro (5,895 m), Tanzania • Kenya (5,199 m), Kenya • Stanley (5,119 m), Congo-Uganda • Speke (4,890 m), Congo-Uganda • Baker (4,844 m), Congo-Uganda • Emin (4,798 m), Congo-Uganda • Gessi (4,715 m), Congo-Uganda • Luigi di Savoia (4,627 m), Congo-Uganda • Luigi di Savoia (4,627 m), Congo-Uganda • Mount Meru (4,566 m), Tanzania • Ras Dejen (4,533 m), Ethiopia • Mount Karisimbi (4,507 m), Rwanda-Congo

  17. African Telescope Ethiopia Namibia

  18. Ethiopian Statistics • Population: 75,000,000 • Capital: Addis Ababa, population 2.7 million • Religion: • 50% Muslim, • 50% Christian • Landmass: Somewhat larger than Alaska, Texas and California combined

  19. Education in Ethiopia • Language: Amharic • 1- 6 grades: Amharic • English: 1st or kindergarden (cities) • 7th & university: English • Literacy: 40% • Primary school: 45%

  20. Universities in Ethiopia • Current Total: 22 • New Total: 32 in 2 years • Golden Opportunity: Critical Need for PhDs to man universities

  21. Astronomers in Ethiopia • One PhD astrophysicist, Legesse Wetro Kebede. • In USA for 9 years • Research Area: Pulsars (Theory) • Produced 22 Masters in astrophysics in 15 years • Current: 4 PhD students and 3 Masters students

  22. Direction of Ethiopian Astronomy • Observational Astronomy • Started site observations in November 2009 • David Buckley from SAAO set up DIMM • Need DIMMs for Ethiopia. Five potential sites

  23. Why African Telescope in Ethiopia • Presumably high photometric quality • Strong backing of Addis Ababa University • Strong Ethiopian government support • Long tradition of Sweden supporting Ethiopia

  24. Ethiopian Government Support • AtoTefera, Minister of Capacity Building • Under him: Ministry of Education, which funds Ethiopian universities • Is an amateur astronomer • With Kebede founded Ethiopian Space Society

  25. Ethiopia as an astronomical site • Ethiopian highlands cover about 2/3 of Ethiopia, surrounded by desert. • Ras Dashen is highest peak at 4,620 m or 15,158 feet (13N,38E). • Proposed site near Lalibela (12N, 39E). Altitude: 3,600 m

  26. Namibian Statistics • Population: 2.1 million • Namibia has the second-lowest population density, after Mongolia • 2.5/square kilometer • Area=Texas +Louisiana • ½ population earns less than $1.25/day

  27. Gamsberg Data • Altitude 2347 m • Area 2.3 sq km • Seeing 1” • 220 cloudless nights • Longitude: 16.23 East • Latitude: 23.34 South • 120 km southwest of Windhoek

  28. Photometric Nights

  29. Seeing

  30. African Astronomical Society (AfAS) • Needed to steer the build-up of astronomy in Africa. • Required because funding is coming through African Union (AU). So Panafrican organization needed.

  31. AfAS Vision Statement • To grow the astronomical profession in Africa to a highly recognized international level.

  32. AfAS Vision Statement • to organize and network the community of African research astronomers, • to advocate for more resources for astronomy research, • to grow the number of African astronomers doing research at Africa-based telescopes, and • to better bridge the African astronomical community to the global astronomical research community.

  33. South Africa

  34. Southern African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) • #1 research facility in Africa. • Located since 1820 in Cape Town • Budget $4.5 M • 105 staff, 22 PhDs, 36 engineers and technical personnel

  35. Sutherland • Altitude: 1800 m • Seeing: 0.9” • Very dark site • 75% of nights usable • Roughly 50% of the nights are photometric

  36. Telescopes at Sutherland • SALT • Five Robotic Telescopes • ACT, BISON, KELT-South, MONET, YSTAR • Five non-robotic telescopes • 1.9 m, 1.0 m, 0.75 m, 0.5 m, IRSF • International: • Germany, Japan, Korea, UK, USA

  37. SALT

  38. Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) • Largest optical telescope in the southern hemisphere • Hexagonal mirror array of 11 meters • Low cost • $22 M: Construction Costs • $9 M: First generation instruments • $14M: First 10 years

  39. SALT Timeline • Construction phase completed in Nov. 2005 • Commission phase: end in mid-2010 • Commissioning science: 11 papers, several in preparation • Two major technical hurdles: • Image quality (diagnosed and about to be solved) • Spectrograph throughput (solved)

  40. What is SKA? • Largest Radio Telescope in World • 3,000 Dishes (each 12-15 m in diameter) • SKA-Square Kilometer Array • Total Area of all 3,000 dishes is a square kilometer • Physical Extent: over 3,000 km

  41. Africa and Australia • Africa and Australia vying • Major international investment, $2.3 billion in construction costs • 1/3 from USA, 1/3 from Europe and 1/3 from other countries in SKA consortium • The SKA will be one of the largest scientific research facilities in the entire world. • Thus Africa or Australia will be number one in radio astronomy on planet earth for many decades.

  42. Where Should SKA Go? • It should be decided by the result of physical measurements. • Initial investigation no significant difference between Africa or Australia. • more rigorous evaluation underway • site decision in 2012

  43. Why Should Africa Host SKA? • Economic Growth • Scientific and Technological Growth

  44. High Speed Internet Without Africa

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