ASTRONOMY IN AFRICA RECEIVES A BOOST
11th June 2012
The Board of the African Renaissance Fund has approved a R120
million funding for the initial work to construct a network of radio telescopes
in the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) African partner countries.
The South African government, through the Minister of
International Resources and Cooperation and the Minister of Finance, has
approved the allocation for the construction of the African Very Long Baseline
Interferometry (VLBI) Network immediately.
"We are exhilarated that our continent will now receive
astronomy research facilities to advance the emergence of the African knowledge
economy," said South Africa’s Minister of Science and Technology Mrs. Naledi
Pandor.
The African VLBI Network (AVN) will use radio telescopes at
various locations in Africa, operating in unison to create high-resolution
observations of astronomical objects or accurately measure the distance between
each radio telescope in the network.
The resolution will be determined by the separation distance
of the telescopes. The greater the separation distance the greater the
resolution and a network that uses the large North-South advantage, for example,
in Africa, will make it a powerful VLBI.
The South African Department of Science and Technology (DST)
has since 2009 been working with its counterparts in the eight SKA partner
countries (Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia
and Zambia) to explore funding opportunities that will establish an
African-owned network of radio telescopes.
This radio telescope funding injection is supported by the
development of human capital, from technician level to post-doctoral
fellowships. "The growth of Africa as a global astronomy hub is a shared vision
of African countries to use the increasingly available broadband infrastructure
for research and economic benefits," said Minister Pandor.
"The African VLBI Network is expected to encourage
co-location with research and monitoring facilities like global positioning
system stations, automated climate change monitoring weather stations and
seismic activity warning systems," said Dr Tshepo Seekoe, the DST's Chief
Director: Radio Astronomy Advances.
Mineral prospectors and other enterprises with socio-economic
benefits will be able to use the roads, electricity and other infrastructure
leading to the remote sites where the AVN telescopes will be constructed. This
development is expected to create a more dynamic working environment for staff
and students. The AVN will be used to study both astronomy and geodesy
(continental drift).
Since the beginning of the African bid to host the SKA, there
has been huge progress in astronomy in Africa, including the choice of Cape Town
to host the International Astronomical Union Office of Astronomy for
Development, the formation of the African Physical Society, the construction of
a number of telescopes throughout Africa and, most importantly, the political
endorsement of the SKA bid by African Union Heads of States and Government.
Issued by the Department of Science and
Technology
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