The Effects Of Astronomy In South Africa

The History of Astronomy and how it affects the society we live in

Before we can start talking about how particularly Astronomy affects South Africa I would like to talk about the effects Astronomy has had on our society and its development of human civilization.Firstly if we you look at the tech- nology we use like cellphones have CCD’s in their camera and companies such as AT & T uses computer software called IRAF[International Astronomical Union 2012].The advancement of satellites to observe the distant galaxies we are curious about makes the application of the GPS and other instruments used for tracking and observing , for security purposes[International Astronomical Union 2012].

The Benefits of Astronomy in South Africa

One of the most important benefit of Astronomy in South Africa , is the knowledge and allowing curiosity to be a career choice. Astronomy has deep fundamental questions about the universe and how it came about. As little boy I have always wondered about the natural world and how it functions. Astronomy equips people with skills to problem solve and critically think this means we try by all means necessary to solve our questions. Tools needed to solve such problems is mathematics ,physics and computer science(this is for simulations and programmes to look at different systems). As time goes on we need end up having more complicated problems this means we have to increase the amount of tools used, these certain skills we get makes South Africa grow especially in the 4th industrial revolution we are heading. Programmes such as NASSP , SANSA and SKA fund students in South Africa to do Astrophysics and Space Science. This means the students are equipped with tools to solve problems and be part of the 4th industrial revo- lution and this makes South Africa grow in advanced Technology, advancing our country.

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Economic Aspects of Astronomy in South Africa

The fact that SKA is in South Africa has made it very cheap for foreign coun- tries to invest in South Africa and also has cheap labour and has strong network in infrastructure and communications[SKA to reveal universe’s secret 30 April 2008]. The SKA has brought quite a big influx in Engineers and Computer scientist. So much data will be received from the telescopes this means that we will have a big influx in data analysts. This also helps because more private com- panies will provide funding for poor or underprivileged students to get in the wave of data analysis which tries to close the big gap of poor underprivileged black people in this country.Building of infrastructure from SKA has given work to the locals in Karoo. The International Astronomical Union’s Office of Astronomy for Development aims to use Astronomy to solve socio eco- nomic problems by being guided by United Nations Sustainable Development Goals[Vanessa McBride,Kevin Govender et.al July 2018]. UN SDG’s goals is to rid of poverty , sustain natural habitats and that humans have enough wa- ter to sustain their lives[Vanessa McBride,Kevin Govender et.al July 2018].

We have OAD which its aim is that people who have studied Astronomy can use it to help back in their communities by teaching or giving back to help decrease the income inequality, also with programmes such as NASSP alot of black students are given opportunities and this allows OAD to include those black students in trying to solve socio economic problems in South Africa and the Africa as a whole.

Why I chose to do Astronomy

The first time I heard about Astronomy was from a man who came to visit our school in 2006 and taught me about the wonders of the universe and how it works. I have always been curious about science and how we came about. My dream since high school was to get into UCT to study Astrophysics. My favourite field of study has been about Black Holes and Galaxy formation. These topics are big in cosmology and if we poke more and more we might answer questions of dark matter , dark energy and the expansion of the universe. With the discovery also of Gravitational waves we might be able to find the link between gravity and Quantum physics.

References

1. [International Astronomical Union 2012] International Astronomical Union 2012, IAU Astronomy for Development Strategic Plan 2010–2012. https://www.iau.org/static/education/strategic plan.
2. [Vanessa McBride,Kevin Govender et.al July 2018] The potential of astronomy for socioeconomic development in Africa. [SKA to reveal universe’s secret 30 April 2008] https://www.brandsouthafrica.com/investments-immigration/sciencetechnology/ska300408