Space and Beyond
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South Africa gearing up for
historical astronomical event
With just about everyone focusing on the 2010 Soccer World Cup to be held in South Africa, the world’s astronomers are working hard on the
arrangements for the International Year of Astronomy in 2009 (IYA/2009). Their vision is on helping the citizens of the world to rediscover their
place in the universe through the day- and night-time sky, and thereby engaging a personal sense of wonder and discovery. It is important to
appreciate the impact of astronomy and basic sciences on our daily lives, and understand better how scientific knowledge can contribute to
a more equitable and peaceful society.
Galileo Galilei was born on 15 February, 1564
in Pisa, Italy. Galileo pioneered "experimental
scientific method" and was the first to use
a refracting telescope to make important
astronomical discoveries.
IYA 2009 will be a global celebration of astronomy
and its contributions to society and culture,
highlighted by the 400th anniversary of the first use
of an astronomical telescope by Galileo Galilei.
The aim of IYA 2009 is to stimulate worldwide
interest, especially among young people, in
astronomy and science under the central theme
“The Universe, Yours to discover”.
In South Africa a national steering committee has
been established, following wide consultation
within the astronomy community including two
open astronomy stakeholder meetings (one in
Johannesburg and one in Cape Town) where
IYA 2009 in South Africa was discussed.
Never before in the astronomy field in South Africa
has a group of this magnitude or composition
come together for a common goal in such
an organised manner. This national team of
stakeholders has brought in immense expertise,
knowledge and ideas. Both professional and
amateur astronomers, observatory education
and outreach officers, planetarium staff, science
communication
professionals,
government
officials and science centre staff all make this a
pool of human resources unlike any before.
The composition of the national steering
committee is indicative of the wide representation
and range of relevant expertise. They are:
● Byren Archary (DST)
● Kim de Boer (SA SKA/MeerKAT)
● Marion West (HartRAO)
● Shadrack Mahapa (SAASTA)
● Peter Martinez (SAAO/ASSA/Space Science
Community)
● Kevin Govender (SAAO / SALT)
Kevin Govender heads up the committee and
is the single point of contact in South Africa for
IYA 2009.
Call for African participation
“I would like for all of us in Africa to use the
astronomy celebrations of 2009 as a rallying point
for the development of a strong learning culture,
with the view that education remains one of the
most important and crucial challenges facing
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Galileo Galilei, astronomer and physicist, 1564 -1642
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same god
who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect
has intended us to forgot their use." - Galileo
our continent, a challenge which could be the
single most significant barrier to peace and
development”, Govender said
He believes that this event is important because
astronomy is one of the most accessible of all
sciences, due to the accessibility of the biggest
laboratory - a dark night sky, especially to those
in rural areas.
Astronomy sparks curiosity and interest, not only
in science and mathematics, but education
in general. For as long as human beings have
walked the earth they have looked up at the
night sky and wondered about the stars. In Africa,
people have used the stars for centuries, be it for
navigation, agriculture, or even story-telling. This is
an opportunity to bring science to our people in a
form that they can relate to. It is a manner in which
we can use indigenous stories about the stars as
a starting point to introduce modern discoveries
and technologies, as well as to celebrate our
astronomical heritage.
“We are fortunate in Africa to have such worldclass facilities as the Southern African Large
Telescope (SALT), the High Energy Stereoscopic
System (HESS) and the Karoo Array Telescope
(KAT), with a possibility of hosting the even larger
Square Kilometre Array (SKA). All these major
astronomy projects are flagships that can inspire
a new generation of scientists and engineers in
Africa. IYA2009 is an opportunity to drive this to
new levels.”
In 1609 Galileo learned of the invention of the
telescope in Holland. From the barest description
he constructed a vastly superior model. Galileo
made a series of profound discoveries using his
new telescope, including the moons of the planet
Jupiter and the phases of the planet Venus (similar
to those of Earth's moon).
As a professor of astronomy at University of Pisa,
Galileo was required to teach the accepted
theory of his time that the sun and all the planets
revolved around the Earth. Later at University of
Padua he was exposed to a new theory, proposed
by Nicolaus Copernicus, that the Earth and all the
other planets revolved around the sun. Galileo's
observations with his new telescope convinced
him of the truth of Copernicus's sun-centred or
heliocentric theory.
Galileo's support for the heliocentric theory got
him into trouble with the Roman Catholic Church.
In 1633 the Inquisition convicted him of heresy
and forced him to recant (publicly withdraw) his
support of Copernicus. They sentenced him to life
imprisonment, but because of his advanced age
allowed him serve his term under house arrest at
his villa in Arcetri outside Florence, Italy.
Galileo's originality as a scientist lay in his method
of inquiry. First he reduced problems to a simple
set of terms on the basis of everyday experience
and common-sense logic. Then he analyzed and
resolved them according to simple mathematical
descriptions. The success with which he applied this
technique to the analysis of motion opened the
way for modern mathematical and experimental
physics. Isaac Newton used one of Galileo's
mathematical descriptions, "The Law of Inertia," as
the foundation for his "First Law of Motion."
Galileo went blind at the age of 72. His blindness
is often attributed to damage done to his eyes by
telescopic observations made of the sun in 1613.
The truth is he was blinded by a combination of
cataracts and glaucoma. Galileo died at Arcetri
in 1642 - the year Isaac Newton was born.
January 2008 - EngineerIT