Welcome to Cape Town!
Over the last two weeks, the beautiful city of Cape Town, South Africa has been home to the 32nd General Assembly for the International Astronomical Union (IAU), with over 2000 astronomers in attendance, dozens of exhibitions on display, and more than 200 sessions of the latest astronomical research. Whilst the conference has, sadly, now come to an end, a few of us here at Astrobites would like to share our experiences from the meeting and give some highlights from the scientific presentations and posters. To get started, I will be giving you a whirlwind-recap of my time in Cape Town, where I attended the first week of the assembly.
Landing on African soil to attend this conference was a first for both myself, and for the IAU General Assembly. “In 96 years of General Assemblies by the IAU”, this is the first to be held in Africa, “and that can never be said again!” Bobby Brown, an award-winning broadcaster, reporter, science communicator, and multi-media corporate coach and consultant, announces at the Opening Ceremony on the 6th of August. Throughout this ceremony, the pride and joy to be hosting the IAU in South Africa was felt by all. ‘It’s time for Africa!’ is the slogan of this year’s assembly – it’s time to learn about how Africa has shaped astronomy throughout history, and how it continues to do so into today’s world.
The President of the IAU, Professor Debra Elmegreen, reminds us that Africa is home to the world’s oldest known astronomical site, Nabta Playa, a stone ‘calendar circle’ that predates Stonehenge by around 2000 years! Thousands of years ago, communities studied the skies to guide travels across deserts, maintain agricultural cycles, and to celebrate ritual ceremonies. This deep-rooted connection to the stars has never been more clear to me than when viewing the sky from South Africa. Having lived in London for most of my life, this was the first time I had ever seen the Milky Way with my own eyes (I even captured a neat picture, Figure 1). For this reason, and many more, my trip to South Africa will always hold a special place in my memories.
Fast forwarding back to the modern day, South Africa aims to become a global hub for astronomy, as highlighted by keynote speaker Dr Blade Nzimande (South Africa’s Science, Technology and Innovation Minister) at the Opening Ceremony. South Africa is already home to the Southern African Large Telescope, the largest optical telescope in the Southern Hemisphere, and the Meerkat Radio Telescope, a precursor to the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), which will be one of the largest science projects ever. One of the key goals of this assembly was to broadcast Africa’s contributions to astronomy to the international community, and I am sure we will all agree that in this regard, this year’s IAU General Assembly was a huge success. In the words of the keynote speaker, “it ain’t science, unless it is truly global”.
At this meeting, we did not just celebrate astronomy, and Africa’s contributions to it, but we were also able to experience a taste of African culture, and especially its love of song and dance. At the Opening Ceremony, we were treated to wonderful performances by the Ithemba choir, who performed a welcome song that ended in a standing ovation. Throughout my time at the IAU in Cape Town, the atmosphere was a warm and welcoming one, reminding me again that South Africa has often been coined the ‘friendliest nation in the world’. With views of Table Mountain, Signal Hill, and Lion’s Head from the Cape Town International Convention Center (CTICC) and its surrounding neighbourhood, it is also naturally beautiful. I am beyond grateful to have had the opportunity to visit, and look forward to returning!
Astrobite edited by: Magnus L’Argent
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