- The General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union will take place on the African continent for the first time in 100 years.
- The week-long summit will cover various aspects of astronomy, particularly how the continent contributes to the astrological community.
- The event is sponsored by the Department of Science and Innovation through the National Research Foundation.
Later this year the 32nd General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) will take place in Cape Town, the first time the event will be hosted on the African continent.
The summit will see the world’s greatest minds arriving in South Africa for the eight-day summit where discussions will form around the James Webb Space Telescope, equity and inclusion in astrophysics and more.
The main sponsor of the event is the Department of Science and Innovation through the National Research Foundation. The South African Radio Astronomy Organisation has said that it will be attending the event where it will host an exhibition.
“Two of the events will be the NRF National Facilities Library and Information Services – Open Access and Open Science Meeting on Wednesday, 7 August 2024 at the SAAO Auditorium in Observatory; and the Multi-wavelength Astrometry Focus Meeting on Wednesday, 14 August 2024 at the CTICC. An invitation-only Women’s Day Breakfast for women in science, engineering and technology will be held and hosted by the SARAO Managing Director, Pontsho Maruping, while SARAO will simultaneously host events on its site in the Northern Cape during the two weeks of the XXXII IAU GA 2024,” SARAO wrote in a news update.
As this is the IAU’s first visit to Africa, the event will feature a number of outreach events intended to inspire school learners to pursue a career in astrophysics.
While no African country has a space programme, such as NASA or JAXA, the continent has a long history of contributing to astronomy. This includes the radio telescopes in Hartebeeshoek, the Square Kilometre Array in the Karoo and a forthcoming antenna in Matijiesfontein that NASA will use to expand its deep space communications.
This summit is a massive event and will help to highlight the contributions Africa makes to the astronomy sector.
“This won’t be ‘just another astronomy conference’ – this assembly presents a remarkable opportunity for the global community of astronomers to come together and engage in discussions concerning the latest observations, theory and impact of astronomy,” SARAO said in 2023.
The IAU General Assembly takes place from 6th to 15th August and you can find more information about the various sessions that will take place over on the official website.
This looks to be a great event and if the recent aurora’s have captured your attention, the IAU summit may be worth paying attention to.
