AfAS Vision

To be the voice of the astronomy profession in Africa in order to promote and support research on the continent, and to facilitate the use of astronomy in addressing the challenges faced by Africa.

Ouagadougou Declaration

Members of the AfAS Working Group sign the Ouagadougou Declaration, marking the beginning of the African Astronomical Society.

AfAS Working Group

The AfAS Working Group produced the Ouagadougou Declaration marking the founding of the African Astronomical Society.

Founding of the African Astronomical Society

Members of the AfAS Working Group discuss the structure and constitution of the African Astronomical Society. Formation of the African Astronomical Society had been an item of discussion amongst African astronomers for many months if not years.

African Universities Unite Behind SKA

SKA partner countries engaged on human capital development for a second time at the SKA’s Cape Town offices from 11 to 14 September 2012. This year’s meeting focused on extending collaborations between universities and on what has happened in astronomy development since last year’s workshop.

Representatives from academic institutions in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia were updated on the SKA site bid and on the status of the African VLBI network. More

News & Information

African Skies Light Pollution Project

I wanted to let your society know about two new smartphone apps that can be used to measure skyglow (light pollution). I am extremely interested in obtaining data from African cities, because many are located near areas with much less lighting infrastructure, and changes in lighting in Africa are likely to have a much larger ecological impact than more

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Research Telescopes in Africa

Operational Telescopes
Southern African Large Telescope
The Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) is the largest (11 m in diameter) single optical telescope in the southern hemisphere. SALT is located in Sutherland where the major telescopes of the South African Astronomical Observatory are located.

KAT-7
Located in Carnavon, South Africa, KAT-7 is a 7-dish working prototype of the planned 64-dish MeerKAT radiotelescope. KAT-7 became operational in December 2009 when interference fringes were seen between two of the dishes.

The High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.)

Located near the Gamsberg mountain in Namibia, H.E.S.S. investigates cosmic gamma rays in the 100 GeV to 100 TeV energy range

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