Tuesday, 6 August 2024
Poster Session 1 (10:00 – 10:30)
| Ahmed Moursi | Using a Small Telescope Featuring a Wide Field of View for Space Situation Awareness |
| Mohamed Fayed | Working towards an implementation of a robotic optical telescope. |
| Mohamed Aboushelib, Abdel Fady Morcos, Samir Nawar, Osama Shalabiea, Zainab Awad | Light pollution trend at the Kottamia Astronomical Observatory |
| Stephen Potter, Sunil Chandra, Nicolas Erasmus, Roufurd Julie, Moloko Hlakola, Carel Van Gend | South African Astronomical Observatory: The Intelligent Observatory |
| Abdoulaye Ba, Papa Douta Tall, Zouhair Benkhaldoun, Mamadou Simana Dramé, Aziz Ziad | Characterization of the optical properties of atmospheric turbulence: Application to the choice of the site of the future Observatory of Senegal |
| Petri Väisänen | The SAAO Intelligent Observatory project – And beyond |
Session 1: Existing Observatory Operations (10:30 – 12:00)
| 10:30 – 10:55 | Mirjana Povic | Ground-based optical telescopes in Africa for attaining the UN sustainable development goals (invited) |
| 10:55 – 11:10 | Rosalind Skelton | An overview of the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) telescopes |
| 11:10 – 11:25 | Encarni Romero-Colmenero | Beyond Borders: Fostering Collaboration and Building Capacity in African Astronomy through SALT |
| 11:25 – 11:45 | Myungshin Im | Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) for Multi-Messenger Astronomy: Key Results and Future Prospects (invited) |
| 11:45 – 12:00 | Stefan Wagner | The ATOM telescope: Enabling simultaneous multi-frequency observations throughout the entire electromagnetic spectrum in Africa |
Session 2: Astronomical Site Selection & Protection I (13:30 – 14:40)
| 13:30 – 13:55 | Edward Graham | An overview of site testing and site characterisation, as applied in the search for an astronomical site in Kenya (invited) |
| 13:55 – 14:10 | Abd El Fady Morcos | Building large Telescopes and Site Tests |
| 14:10 – 14:25 | Mohamed Darwish | Impact of Meteorological and Seismological Parameters on Telescope Site Selection: A Case Study in Egypt |
| 14:25 – 14:40 | Youssef Hach | Characterizing and Comparing Astroclimatic Parameters in the free Atmosphere of the MENA Region Through NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis: A Comparative Study |
Poster Session 2 (15:00 – 15:30)
| Mark Bowman | Open-source software for managing telescopes, observatories, and science programs |
| Alisher S. Hojaev | Uzbek-Indian Cooperation in Astronomy: Opportunities for Expansion to Africa |
| Mohammed Sabil, Tarik Mouhtafid, Zineb Ihssane, Elarbi Siher, Zouhair Benkhaldoun | Site Testing at Tassemit Mountain, Morocco: Atmospheric Parameters Analyzed Using ERA5 Data |
| Michael Backes | Night-sky brightness measurements towards the Namibian Multi-Wavelength Observatory |
| Pere Blay, Elisa Nespoli, Vicent Martinez-Badenes, Nestor Sanchez-Doreste | A low cost compact optical polarimeter as example of sustainable and accessible instrumentation |
Session 3: Astronomical Site Selection & Protection II (15:30 – 17:00)
| 15:30 – 15:55 | Warren Skidmore | Establishing the scientific and technical aspects of a future astronomical observatory project (invited) |
| 15:55 – 16:20 | Constance Walker | Protecting optical observatory sites from the growing satellite constellation interference (invited) |
| 16:20 – 16:40 | Ramotholo Sefako | Dark Sky Protection in South Africa – a Potential Model for Other Observatories in Africa (invited) |
| 16:40 – 17:00 | Federico Di Vruno | SKA Observatory: opportunities for Africa and challenges with new large satellite constellations (invited) |
Wednesday, 7 August 2024
Poster Session 3 (10:00 – 10:30)
| Anne Verbiscer, David Baratoux, Marc Buie, Maram Kaire, Amanda Sickafoose | Observing Stellar Occultations in Support of NASA Missions from Africa: Opportunities for African Participation |
| Ola Ali | The Impact of Small Telescopes on Outreach and Education Activities in Egypt. |
| Mohamed Helali, Makram Ibrahim | Upgrading Helwan Satellite Laser Ranging Station in Egypt, Past and Future. |
| Hedy Goodman | From Timekeeping to Sky-Sweeping: The Sociopolitics of Astronomical Observation |
| Mohamed Abdelkareem, Yosry Ahmed | Development of a renewable-based hybrid generation microgrid system with energy storage and intelligent control for the new Egypt large optical telescope astronomical observatory |
| Federica Bianco | The Rubin ToO program: public data open opportunities for involvement in Multi Messenger Astronomy |
Session 4: Networks of Telescopes & Systems (10:30 – 13:50)
| 10:30 – 10:55 | David Buckley | Networking Telescopes: Prospects for Autonomous Follow-up of Discoveries from Future Surveys (invited) |
| 10:55 – 11:10 | Judi Provencal | The Whole Earth Telescope and Stellar Seismology |
| 11:10 – 11:25 | Grazina Tautvaisiene | Europlanet Telescope Network for promoting international collaboration |
| 11:25 – 11:40 | Przemysław Mikołajczyk | Black hole TOM – an automatic tool for photometric time-domain data |
| 11:40 – 11:55 | Bruce Berriman | The Benefits of the Virtual Observatory to Under-served Communities |
| 11:55 – 12:15 | Yumiko Oass | Japanese collaboration with universities for ground-based optical/infrared observations (invited) |
| Break | ||
| 13:30 – 13:50 | Zainab Awad | Astrochemistry in Africa: let’s form our bond (invited) |
Session 5: Future Plans and Opportunities I (13:50 – 15:00)
| 13:50 – 14:05 | Yosry Azzam | Egyptian Large Optical Telescope (ELOT): An Update |
| 14:05 – 14:30 | Itzia Aretxaga | The impact of ground-based telescopes in the formation of the next generation of astronomers (invited) |
| 14:30 – 14:45 | Cyrielle Opitom | Using a 40-cm optical telescope in Kenya for NASA’s DART mission support and teaching |
| 14:45 – 15:00 | Brian Chaboyer | The Southern African Large Telescope: Governance and Future Initiatives |
Poster Session 4 (15:00 – 15:30)
| Francisco Fenias Macucule, Michael Backes | Towards Improved EHT Observations: Measuring Precipitable Water Vapour at Potential Sites for the AMT in Namibia. |
| Massinissa Hadjara, Amokrane Berdja, Swagat Ranjan, Elisson De Almeida, Slobodan Jankov, Vladmir Lukin, Abdelkarim Boskri, Zouhair Benkhaldoun, Zheng Jinghui | BRICS Southern Observatory (BRICS-SO) Project: Invitation to African countries to invest in Chile |
| Nebiyu Suleyman, Solomon Tessema | Identification of Potential Astronomical Sites in Ethiopia |
| Michael Backes, Jonathan Biteau, Colin Carlile, Hambeleleni Davids, Dainis Dravins, Michele Fiori, Tarek Hassan, Eli Kasai, David Kieda, Michael Lisa, Prasenjit Saha, Naomi Vogel, Roland Walter, Luca Zampieri, Andreas Zmija | Stellar-scale astrophysics with optical telescopes using HBT interferometry |
| Somaya Saad, Mohamed Darwish | Current and Future Plans for Observational Astronomy in Egypt |
Session 6: Future Plans and Opportunities II (15:30 – 17:00)
| 15:30 – 15:55 | Zouhair Benkhaldoun | The Oukaimeden observatory and its operation in robotic and remote mode: An inspiration for the creation of other similar observatories in several African countries. (invited) |
| 15:55 – 16:10 | Solomon Tessema | The Lalibela, Ethiopia Infrared and Optical TelescopeSite Test Status andFutureScience plan |
| 16:10 – 16:25 | Zeljko Ivezic | Rubin’s LSST: opportunities for worldwide democratization of astronomical research and public outreach |
| 16:25 – 17:00 | Discussion |