For the first time first time in its 105-year history, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly 2024 will take place in Africa this week.
The event from August 6-15 will see more than 2 000 professional astronomers from 82 countries gather in Cape Town for the world’s largest international meeting of astronomers.
Included in its series of firsts, the IAU will also open certain General Assembly sessions to the public, and allow anyone with internet access to watch sessions in pre-recorded or live format on YouTube.
The IAU is an international organisation with a membership of over 12 000 active professional astronomers from more than 100 countries who promote astronomy in all its aspects, including research, communication, education and development, through international cooperation.
The IAU is also the recognised authority that classifies and names celestial or astronomical bodies, from the largest objects in space such as the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall to asteroids such as 2024 MK which flew between Earth and its moon on June 29.
“The IAU General Assembly will bring astronomers together to share their work in diverse fields, including how the history of the universe is being rewritten using images from the James Webb Space Telescope, new methods for predicting and discovering planets outside our solar system, efforts to protect dark skies against light pollution, and the use of astronomy around the world to drive development,” organisers said.
The event will host astronaut Dr Sian Proctor, mission pilot for the first all-civilian orbital mission, Inspiration4, as well as the first African American woman to pilot a spacecraft and the first African American commercial astronaut.
Proctor will present a public talk and Q&A at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) on August 7.
Also attending the IAU General Assembly is winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, Dr Brian Schmidt, who led the team which discovered that the expansion of our universe is accelerating. Schmidt will be interviewed during a live broadcast of the “Cosmic Savannah” podcast at the CTICC on August 14.
Other IAU GA events that will be open to the public include appearances by Mae Jemison, former NASA astronaut and the first African American woman in space, at various public events during the General Assembly and the Square Kilometre Array Observatory’s (SKAO) “Cosmic Echoes” astronomy and art exhibition, featuring mixed media artworks from Indigenous artists in Australia and South Africa, at the CTICC during public events, public screenings of “Rising Star”, a full dome and virtual reality film highlighting the South African Large Telescope (SALT) and MeerKAT Radio Telescope, at Iziko Planetarium, and ‘An Evening with NASA, which will offer the public an opportunity to meet NASA scientists and educators at the CTICC.
There will also be a 10-minute live radio link with the International Space Station at 1.55 PM on 9 August, during which 10 lucky Cape Town learners can ask NASA Astronaut and Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test Pilot, Sunitha Williams, their burning questions.
Visit https://astronomy2024.org/ to view the full IAU General Assembly 2024 programme.
Cape Times