Dr. Andreas Faltenbacher a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of the Western Cape will be giving a free public talk at S.A. Astronomical Observatory in Cape Town this Saturday, May 26 at 20h00. The title of his talk is “The search for dark matter”. After the talk, there will be tours of the main building, the McClean Telescope and stargazing if the weather is good.

Summary of the talk:
The currently favoured cosmological standard model implies, more than 80% of all gravitational matter in the universe is invisible. However, up to today the basic properties of this ‘dark matter’ remain rather elusive.
In his talk, Dr. Faltenbacher will address the following questions:
1) Why do we need such a mysterious thing?
2) What dark matter candidates have been suggested?
3) Which dark matter candidates have already been excluded by current observations?

Bio:
Dr. Andreas Faltenbacher is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of the Western Cape. He is among the team that is working on preparations for the South African Square Kilometre Array (SKA).

He obtained his PhD at the University of Potsdam, Germany. His PhD thesis was about numerical work on the large scale structure of the universe. He did research at various astronomical institutions around the world, places like, Jerusalem, Santa Cruz, Shanghai and Munich.

Dr. Ramotholo Sefako an astronomer at SA Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) will give a free public lecture about “Nonthermal Universe - A closer look at astronomical sources of very high energies”. The talk will be at SAAO in Cape Town on Saturday, May 12 at 20h00. There will be stargazing if the weather is good.

Summary of the talk:
Together, we will take a closer look at what we would see if our eyes were to detect radiation in other wavelengths, like X-rays and gamma-rays, which would mostly be nonthermal sources. Optical and Infrared radiation are mostly dominated by thermal radiation such as from our Sun and many other stars we see every night. Nonthermal radiation, on the other hand, is mainly as a result of acceleration of charged particles in magnetic fields.

Bio:
Ramotholo Sefako obtained his PhD in astrophysics from North-West University (NWU) in Potchefstroom ten years ago. He became a Physics lecturer and a member of the Unit for Space Physics research group in 2002 at the same university. Subsequent to leaving NWU as a senior lecturer in 2004, he took up another lecturing position at University of  Free State, Qwa-Qwa campus. In 2005, he joined South African Astronomical Observatory as a post-doctoral fellow, and later a SALT astronomer. Currently, he is the head of the Telescope Operations (TOPS) Division at SAAO.

Public talk

Zolile Mguda a PhD student at UCT will give a free public lecture at South African Astronomical Observatory on Saturday, April 28 at 20h00. Title of his talk is “Reflections of Rainbows”.  There will be stargazing after the talk, if the weather is good.

Summary of the talk:

Rudi Kuhn a PhD student at UCT will give a free public lecture at S.A. Astronomical Observatory in Cape Town this Saturday, April 14 at 20h00. The topic of his talk is one that occupies many people’s minds, the wonder about the possibility of life in other planets: “Is there somebody out there? Exoplanets and the search for extraterrestrial life”
After the talk, there will be tours of the site and stargazing if the weather is good.

Summary of his talk:
The search for planets outside of our solar system is one of the most exciting fields in astronomy at present, and it will perhaps one day answer the question of whether or not we are alone in the universe. Although, searching for alien worlds dates back to ancient times, the techniques needed to detect them have only recently been developed with the first extrasolar planet (exoplanet) being discovered in 1992. To date, there are 763 Exoplanets presently known, with many hundreds still in the pipeline to be confirmed. Recent research has even revealed that almost every star in the Milky Way Galaxy is home to at least one planet. This means that our galaxy might contain at least 100 billion planets.

In his talk, Rudi Kuhn will discuss the different methods astronomers use to find exoplanets and he will also be looking at ways in which we may one day use to be able to tell if life exists on those far away planets.

Bio:
Rudi Kuhn is a PhD student at the University of Cape Town working at SAAO on the KELT-South (Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope - South) project. His main research is on trying to find exoplanets using the transit method. He was involved in the construction and deployment of the KELT-South telescope in Sutherland, a dedicated instrument for exoplanet discovery.

Once again, South African Astronomical Observatory in Cape Town will host a free public lecture on Saturday, March 10 at 20h00. The talk will be presented by a UCT Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Natasha Maddox. The title of her talk is “Hunting for quasars: How to find the brightest objects in the Universe”. After the talk, we will have tours of the site and stargazing through small telescope.

Summary of the talk
After a brief outline of the history of quasar observations, Dr. Maddox will explain what quasars are and how they work. Then discuss how to find them, and why quasars are important in the context of cosmology and galaxy evolution.

Bio:

Natasha is originally from Canada, where she studied her Undergraduate Degree in physics at the University of Victoria. She completed her PhD in the UK on the near-infrared properties of quasars, and held a postdoctoral position in Germany before joining the astronomy department at the University of Cape Town as an SKA postdoctoral fellow.

SA Astronomical Observatory in Cape Town will host a free public lecture presented by Dr. Christian Hettlage on Saturday, February 25 at 20h00. The title of his talk is “From Stars to Surface: Surveying South Africa”.  After the talk, there will be tours of the site and stargazing.

Summary of the talk
Throughout centuries, navigation at sea was based more on experience than proper maps or measurements. It was only through technological advances such as the sextant and reliable clocks that this situation was drastically improved. These developments turned astronomers into official time-keepers. On land, nineteenth century astronomers were tasked with conducting accurate survey work. Twentieth century discoveries in physics, astronomy and space sciences enabled us not only to be guided in our cars by a friendly mechanical voice, or plough fields in straight lines by means of satellites, but also to survey our planets in unprecedented detail and even to estimate the size of planets around other stars.

The talk will outline the history of finding your way on land, sea and beyond, focusing on South Africa in particular.

Dr. Sarah Blyth a lecturer in the Department of Astronomy at UCT will give a free public lecture at S.A. Astronomical Observatory in Cape Town on Saturday, February 11 at 20h00. The title of her talk is “Evolution of Galaxies: What the MeerKAT can tell us”. After the talk, there will be stargazing and tours of the site.

Abstract:

Title: Evolution of Galaxies: What the MeerKAT can tell us

Title of the talk: The Cultural Astronomy of Aboriginal Australians

Description:

Aboriginal Australians are among the oldest continuous cultures on earth, having arrived in Australia over 50,000 years ago. Threaded among the hundreds of different groups, each with a distinct language and culture with a deep knowledge of the night sky. This knowledge extends beyond simply naming stars or having stories about them. It includes a deep intellectual component that involved noting the complex motions of the sun, moon, and stars.  The relationship between meteors, meteorites, and impact craters, the mechanics of eclipses, and the relative positions of stars in the sky and their connection to terrestrial events, such as the changing of seasons, the availability of food sources, and the passage of time. Evidence of this is recorded with community elders and in various artistic forms, such as stone arrangements and petroglyphs. In this talk, Duane will explore the role and development of scientific astronomy in Aboriginal cultures and discuss some of the amazing research being conducted by members of the Aboriginal Astronomy Project.

Bio:

Duane W. Hamacher is currently managing the Macquarie University Planetarium and Observatory. Also, he is a member of the Aboriginal Astronomy Project, that is linked to the Research Centre of Astronomy, Astrophysics and Astrophotonics. Accordingly, he holds a joint position between the Department of Indigenous Studies (research) and the Department of Physics & Astronomy (Outreach).

His research areas are in Australian Cultural Astronomy, Indigenous Knowledge, History of Science, Observational Astronomy, Meteorite Impacts, Science Education and Communication. His first degree is a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Missouri. Followed by an M.S. in Astrophysics from the University of New South Wales. He has recently submitted a PhD in Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University.

Deatrick Foster, a PhD student at Vanderbilt University in the USA will give a free public lecture at SA Astronomical Observatory in Cape Town on Saturday, January 28 at 20h00. The title of his lecture is “Decoding the Distance Scales of Astronomy: The cosmic distance ladder” After the talk, there will be stargazing and tours of the site.

Abstract:
Astronomers use a variety of techniques to measure distances to the stars. These methods are areas of active research in astronomy with significant implications for our understanding of the Universe. No single technique can measure distance for all the different size scales encountered in astronomy.  With few exceptions, distances based on direct measurements can probe only a small fraction of our own Galaxy. For distances beyond that, getting reasonable distance estimates require us to make assumptions based on our best understanding of the underlying physical conditions involved.  For example, we may recognise a particular distant object as a member of a class whose properties are consistent enough to use for accurate estimation of distances.  This presentation is an overview of the methods used for determining the vast distances in astronomy.

Then, on Saturday will be the official memorial/celebration of her life at Rustenberg Girls Junior School (next door to Baxter theatre in Rondebosch) - people are asked to arrive 11:00 for 11:30. This will be a celebration of her life so people are asked to dress colourfully and bring your SA flags and vuvuzelas!

To those who didn’t know her please see a summary from the SA Science Journalists Association

Please spread the word about these events.

Regards
Kevin

Hamba Khahle, Christina (by the South African Science Journalists Association)

Christina Scott, South Africa’s premier radio and TV science journalist has died tragically in a motor car accident, aged 49. A champion of science journalism, a science communicator, editor, author, mentor, trainer, devoted mother and much admired and loved colleague, she died while doing what she did best, helping others. Christina was giving driving lessons and was just shy of her 50th birthday.

“Short, stroppy reporter with a funny accent. Likes to eat sushi. No head for alcohol and caffeine addiction” is how Canadian-born Christina chose to introduce herself when applying to join an online science network. Her sense of humour, warmth, intelligence, wackiness and ability to cut through the jargon made her a brilliant science journalist, ensuring her a place in many hearts.

From 1994 to 2004 Christina was science editor at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) for both TV and radio. At the time of her death she was presenter of the popular weekly Science Matters programme on SAFM and managing editor of Research Africa. A woman of substance, she was widely read making her an incisive interviewer, always getting to the core of the matter but in an engaging and friendly manner. Whether she was talking to an astrophysicist about space or a zoologist about velvet worms she was able to make all scientists feel at ease, getting the best from them. One scientist recalls that being interviewed by her was “like being part of a dinner conversation. You would seamlessly go into the interview without realising that the mike was live and you were on air. That is the way it should be”.

What she lacked in height, she made up for in irrepressible energy and her passion for spreading the word of science into every home in South Africa and Africa from shacks to mansions, made her a foremost science communicator and science advocate. She was concerned about the lack of science literacy in Africa and the impact this had on ordinary people. Consequently, she reached out to young science journalists, either in print or broadcast, taking them under her wing, encouraging and mentoring them. Christina was an active member of the World Federation of Science Journalists (WFSJ) and mentored African science journalists under the federation’s first SjCOOP between 2006 and 2009. Always leading from behind and with generosity of spirit, she wondered whether “she was mentoring reporters in Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria” or whether it was the “other way round and they were mentoring me”.
As Sub-Saharan editor for the online science news and feature service SciDev.Net , her influence rippled across Africa and internationally. She wanted the voice of women scientists heard loud and clear. Outspoken and driven, she complained of constantly being dished up “white male” scientists to interview. She gave women scientists in Africa a platform.

Christina was the founding vice-president of the SA Science Journalism Association and its second president, and it was her wish and motivation that South African editors be lobbied to cover more science stories. She was on the advisory committee of Scifest and chaired several sessions at science conferences, notably the recent 6th Science World Congress in Cape Town. She also attended the recent Science Journalism conference in Doha giving of her experience and expertise.

Once when asked what languages she spoke, she answered in her inimitable style: English, some French, ngi khuluma isiZulu en ‘n bietjie Afrikaans - warm and witty but also an insight into her ability to embody the different cultures in SA and her own heritage. Ever respectful, she made a point of greeting people in their own language.

By nature, Christina was an activist and started journalism in South Africa tackling the apartheid government and police and “when there was no one left to fight” she turned her attention to science, a topic she loved and on which she has left an indelible mark.
Christina never gave up on her convictions and therefore it was no surprise, to see her dressed in red, joining the anti-Secrecy Bill march in Cape Town to ensure South Africa’s hard won struggle for a free media remains intact.Once when she arrived at a media event, while working for SABC, she went over to the registration desk to get her name tag. “I’m Christina Scott,” she said. The man behind the table replied, having only ever heard her on radio, “No, you’re not Christina Scott. Christina Scott’s tall!”
She will remain a giant in our hearts. She leaves her three children Nozipho 19, Alexandra 13, and Benjamin 9.
Farewell Hamba Khahle Christina

Her achievement include:
Christina holds a degree in English literature from the University of Alberta and a Masters degree in media studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
She authored the book: Nelson Mandela: A force for freedom.
Christina won many awards including the 2007 TWAS prize for public understanding and popularising science.
In 2005 she was co-winner of the reporting microfinance award from the Inter Press Service news agency and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
In 2000 she was awarded a Jack E. Scripps science journalism fellowship from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), USA and in 1999 she won the CSIR science and technology award for radio.