As astronomical data sets grow bigger, it is not straightforward to just create an image of them, even less so an image that can be navigated, zoomed in to, explored, etc. Yet, that is one of the main tools of astronomers – their images. In fact, we have entered the age of streaming visualisations, where the data is rendered and … Read More
We are excited to announce that we are once again joined by a new postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Sthabile Kolwa, who will be based at the University of Cape Town. Dr. Kolwa will be working on the MIGHTEE project on research into galaxy evolution. Dr. Kolwa joins us from the European Southern Observatory (ESO), in Germany. Dr. Kolwa joined the ESO … Read More
I suddenly have to move my face-to-face physics/astronomy course online! What should I do? During this COVID-19 pandemic, many academic staff are being asked to quickly move their face-to-face classes online. This is challenging for many reasons: teaching online is quite different from teaching in person, many staff don’t have experience teaching online, transitioning quickly is difficult, and all of … Read More
University of the Western Cape (UWC) veteran scholar, Associate Professor Carolina Ödman, has been shortlisted for this year’s prestigious National Science and Technology Forum-South32 (NSTF-South32) Awards, popularly known as the “Science Oscars of South Africa”. Prof Ödman is a finalist for the Communication Award for her pioneering work in astronomy outreach, development and education. The Communication Award recognises a communicator … Read More
This study was carried out by a team from the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), the (US) National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), the University of Pretoria, and Rhodes University. The results will be published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Dr Kshitij Thorat, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pretoria and second author of the paper, explained: … Read More
Two academics from the University of the Western Cape (UWC) have been nominated for the 22nd prestigious National Science and Technology Forum-South32 (NSTF-South32) Awards, popularly known as “Science Oscars of South Africa”. International renowned academic Associate Professor Carolina Ödman has been nominated for the Communication Award for her pioneering work in astronomy outreach, development and education. The Communication Award recognises … Read More
The Cube Analysis and Rendering Tool for Astronomy (CARTA) is a new image visualization and analysis tool designed for ALMA, the VLA and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) pathfinder telescopes. CARTA is developed by a consortium of the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA), the Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy (IDIA), the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), … Read More
Sol Plaatje University hosted the Ilifu Big Data Hackathon from 12 – 13 March 2020. The Ilifu Human Capital Development and Outreach Committee in partnership with SPU’s School of Natural and Applied Sciences aims to promote active usage of ilifu (a big data infrastructure for data-intensive research) through hands-on activities, training and skills development. The aim of the Hackathon is … Read More
The impact of a social network of peers on academic achievement and dropout rates in minorities is a well- studied subject (1). While no formal study of this kind has been carried out in South Africa, generally, findings internationally agree that the less isolated minority students are, the more likely they are to succeed individually, and as a group (2). … Read More
We are excited to announce that we will be joined by a new postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Francesco Cavallaro, who will be based at the University of Cape Town. Dr. Cavallaro will be working with the ThunderKAT, MIGHTEE and MeerLICHT projects on research into stellar radio emission. Dr. Cavallaro joins us from Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) in Catania, Sicily, … Read More
