History of Astronomy in South Africa: The Late Modern Period
A Focus Meeting to be held at the XXXII IAU General Assembly in Cape Town, South Africa, on August 7-8, 2024
Below is an overview of the draft programme as it stands, but which is still subject to change.
On August 7 and 8 there is one morning session, followed by two afternoon sessions.
Sessions are numbered FM6-1 to FM6-3 (August 7) and FM6-4 to FM6-6 (August 8).
Timetable
| Session | Time slot | Speaker | Title | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FM6-1 | Cape Observatory Astrophotography Chair: Piet van der Kruit | |||||
| FM6-1 | 10:30-10:40 | Piet van der Kruit | Introduction | |||
| FM6-1 | 10:40-11:10 | John Hearnshaw | The fascinating story of the Cape Photographic Durchmusterung involving the different personalities of David Gill and Jacobus Kapteyn | |||
| FM6-1 | 11:10-11:40 | Ileana Chinnici | The crucial role played by the Cape Observatory in the Carte du Ciel project | |||
| FM6-1 | 11:40-12:00 | Zheng-Hong Tang, Yong Yu, Mei-Ting Yang, Liang-Liang Wang & Jing Yang |
Shanghai Sheshan Observatory’s contribution to the Carte du Ciel project | |||
| 12:00-13:30 | Lunch | |||||
| FM6-2 | Photographic Monitoring in South Africa Chair: Ileana Chinnici | |||||
| FM6-2 | 13:30-14:00 | Ian Glass | The South African Observatories and technological change | |||
| FM6-2 | 14:00-14:30 | Sara Schechner | Harvard's Boyden Station in Bloemfontein | |||
| FM6-2 | 14:30-15:00 | Christiaan Sterken & Arnout van Genderen | The Leiden plate collection: the logbooks as a treasure trove of information on service observing by local staff | |||
| 15:00-15:30 | Coffee break | |||||
| FM6-3 | The Royal Observatory at the Cape Chair: Ian Glass | |||||
| FM6-3 | 15:30-16:00 | Virginia Trimble | Expanding the Universe from South and Southern Africa | |||
| FM6-3 | 16:00-16:30 | David Laney | From Thomas Henderson's dismal swamp to SAAO | |||
| FM6-3 | 16:30-17:00 | Nikolai Samus, Alina Eremeeva | The Herschel Family and Astronomy in South Africa | |||
| FM6-4 | Geodetic Surveys and Astronomy in South Africa Chair: Virginia Trimble | |||||
| FM6-4 | 10:30-11:00 | Christiaan Sterken | Hardships of the Geodetic Survey of South Africa: from Lacaille to Maclear | |||
| FM6-4 | 11:00-11:30 | Mulemwa Akombelwa, Koos Landman & Angus Forbes | The contribution of the early surveyors to professional and technical surveying education in South Africa | |||
| FM6-4 | 11:30-12:00 | Auke Slotegraaf | Rescue Archiving: Lessons learnt at Boyden Observatory and elsewhere in South Africa | |||
| 12:00-13:30 | Lunch | |||||
| FM6-5 | Scientists and their Impact on South African Society & Native Peoples Chair: Sara Schechner | |||||
| FM6-5 | 13:30-14:00 | Jane Carruthers | The Toppieshoek Restoration Project (remote presentation) | |||
| FM6-5 | 14:00-14:20 | Hong-Jin Yang, Hyojun Lee & Hyung Mok Lee | Uncovering hidden logbooks of cometary observations: the case of comets Halley and Donati | |||
| FM6-5 | 14:20-14:40 | Keith Snedegar | The challenging legacy of A.W. Roberts, South African variable star observer | |||
| FM6-5 | 14:40-15:00 | Michael Backes | History of Astronomy in Namibia | |||
| 15:00-15:30 | Coffee break | |||||
| FM6-6 | Miscellaneous Aspects of Astronomy in South Africa Chair: John Hearnshaw | |||||
| FM6-6 | 15:30-15:50 | Isabelle Lémonon & Colette Le Lay | Female computers and the Carte du Ciel project (remote presentation) | |||
| FM6-6 | 15:50-16:10 | Dawid Van Jaarsveldt | A quest to preserve Bloemfontein’s astronomical heritage: the development of the Boyden Observatory Museum | |||
| FM6-6 | 16:10-16:30 | Ian Tasker | Economic considerations direct Robert Innes's collaboration during World War I, using Sydney data for blinking proper motions, supplied by Ernest Cooke | |||
| FM6-6 | 16:30-16:50 | Ian Glass, Jennifer Whittal & Christiaan Sterken | Commentaries on tangible and intangible cultural Heritage at the Cape | |||
| FM6-6 | 16:50-17:00 | John Hearnshaw | Closure of the Meeting | |||