At the Honduras UN/ESA Basic Space Science Workshop in June 1997, Dr. Kaabi from Tunis, Tunisia, made a statement on behalf of the Government of Tunisia that Tunisia would be prepared to host a UN/ESA Workshop on Basic Space Science in 1998. However, as the UN has already scheduled UNISPACE III preparatory conferences in Chile, Malaysia, and Tunisia during 1998, it would not be appropriate to organize such a Basic Space Science Workshop for 1998 in Tunisia.
In July 1999 the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society will be held in Johannesburg at the University of the Witwatersrand. This will mark the first time that this prestigious scientific organization will hold its annual conference on the African continent - and only the second time that it will be held in the southern hemisphere. Many eminent earth scientists, astronomers, chemists, and physicists will attend the 1999 conference. In addition to the scientific programme of the meeting, a number of public lectures will be presented to promote awareness of this science.
It is hoped that African scientists will be able to participate with a large number of scientific contributions. To this effect, and in order to promote meteoritical and planetary science in Africa, the Organizing Committee (chaired by Dr W.U. Reimold, University of the Witwatersrand) is actively involved in organising sponsorship for travel support of those scientists from other African countries who intend to present a contribution in July 1999. African scientists who might have an interesting object (specimen or structure) or a special interest related to the general subject of the conference, are urged to contact the Organizing Committee as soon as possible. In some cases, it may be possible to support research to facilitate its completion prior to the conference.
The Meteoritical Society
and other organizations have already pledged their active and financial
support for this conference. Support is still being sought to invite
eminent scientists to speak at this conference.
Readers interested in the possibility of their institution hosting such a
lecturer are invited to contact the Organizing Committee as soon as
possible. All correspondence should be addressed to:
Le Ministère Marocain de l'EnseignementSupérieur, de la Formation des Cadres et de la Recherche Scientifique a sélectionné le Centre de Recherche
et d'Etudes Spatiales (C.R.E.S.) de l'Ecole Mohammadia d'Ingénieurs (E.M.I.)
comme pôle de compétence en Sciences et Techniques de l'Espace. Afin d'identifier les compétences marocaines travaillant dans le domaine spatial,
le C.R.E.S. a organisé, sous l'égide du même Ministère, le 24 Juin 1997, une réunion nationale sur les sciences et techniques de l'espace.
L'ordre du jour de cette journée consistait en l'ouverture, les exposés, la présentation des différents laboratoires et unités de recherche dans le domaine spatial, les discussions de la charte du Réseau Universitaire des Sciences et Techniques de l'Espace (RUSTE), et la définition de ses programmes.
A l'issue de cette réunion nationale, les participants nationaux ont décidé de créer ce Réseau qui a pour but de promouvoir, par l'enseignement et la formation, les sciences et techniques de l'espace, au
Maroc, au sein des Universités, des Etablissements de Formation des Cadres et de Recherche, et auprés des administrations et des entreprises publiques et privées.
Une charte du RUSTE a été élaborée lors de cette réunion et a été proposée à tous les Directeurs et Doyens des établissements publics concernés, pour
signature. La coordination du RUSTE est assurée par un comité de coordination. Ce comité, désigné à l'unanimité par les participants, est provisoirement composé du Pr. El KADIRI de l'Ecole Mohammadia des Ingénieurs, du Pr. CHERKAOUI-OMARI de l'Institut Agronomique et Vétérinaire
Hassan II, et du Dr. TOUMA Hamid du Centre National de Recherche (C.N.C.P.R.S.T.).
Nous rappelons que le RUSTE a son siège au C.R.E.S. à l'E.M.I., dont les coordonnées sont les suivantes:
Réseau Universitaire des Sciences et Techniques de l'Espace
C.R.E.S.
Ecole Mohammadia d'Ingénieurs
B.P. 765, Agdal, Avenue Ibn Sina,
Rabat
Tél : (212 7) 77 19 05/ 06
Fax : (212 7) 77 88 53 ou 77 65 63
E-mail : cres@emi.ac.ma
Toute personne intéressée par les recherches dans les domaines des sciences et techniques de l'espace pourra contacter le secrétariat du RUSTE aux coordonnées ci-dessus.
A University Network of Space Sciences and Technologies (RUSTE) has been created in Morocco. Its aim is to promote the space sciences, and their associated technologies, through the Universities, the Senior Manager Formation Institutes, Public Administration departments and private firms. Persons interested in more information on this organization are invited to contact the secretary of the Network at the Centre of Space Research and Studies (CRES) in the Mohammadia Engineer School (EMI), Rabat, at the above address.
The National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG) in Egypt has recently taken delivery of a number of Sun Workstations. A dual-processor Sun SPARC 20, numerous I/O peripherals and 5 text terminals have been installed at Helwan Observatory. Computing power at Kottamia has also been upgraded with the installation of a Sun SPARC 4 and a Sun SPARC 20 workstation and associated peripherals.
Helwan Observatory is soon to have a site on the World Wide Web. Work is currently in progress to connect Helwan Observatory to the World Wide Web via the Egyptian Universities Network, and thereafter to extend the link some 70 km to the Kottamia Observing Station. Completion of this work is expected by mid-1998.
Dr Ahmed-Essam El-Sayed Mohamed of the National Research Institute for Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG) in Egypt visited the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) from 22 July to 10 October, 1997. The aim of Ahmed-Essam's visit was to study the CCD acquisition and reduction systems in use at SAAO in anticipation of the new CCD system due to be commissioned soon at Kottamia Observatory.
Mr Johnson Urama, a doctoral student at the Space Research Centre, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nigeria at Nsukka, spent most of 1997 at the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO) in South Africa. He arrived at HartRAO in June for a one-year research visit. The visit is aimed at establishing a collaboration in pulsar research between HartRAO and the Space Research Centre of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (SRC-UNN).
Urama is collaborating with South African astronomer Dr Claire Flanagan on pulsar timing measurements. Pulse arrival times are employed in the interpretation of both the interiors of neutron stars and radio wave propagation in the interstellar medium.
Pulsars show a regular, monotonic period increase due to slowdown arising from loss of kinetic energy in the form of high-energy particles and radiation. In 18 of the many known pulsars this period change is occasionally interrupted by glitches. For the past thirteen years HartRAO has been monitoring two of these glitching pulsars on a daily basis. The project has been quite successful in real-time glitch detection. In a survey of four southern pulsars Urama and his colleagues identified another two pulsars that are good candidates for glitch detection and these pulsars have been added to the HartRAO daily monitoring programme.
HartRAO pulsar data also include several years of bi-weekly observations of twenty-seven pulsars. These archival data are currently being analysed for a study of their timing irregularities. To facilitate the use of their analysis tools by a wider group of researchers, Urama and his colleagues have also started converting the analysis software from FORTRAN to C for use on workstation platforms.
Urama's visit was supported by HartRAO and IAU Commission 38.
Prof. M.A. Shaltout, WGSSA Deputy Coordinator for North Africa, has been elected the Egyptian national representative to COSPAR. Prof. Shaltout was part of a team of Egyptian, Russian, NASA and ESA scientitsts, who recently spent two weeks in Egypt's western desert testing instruments to be sent to Mars in 2001. The tests were conducted there because of the similarity of the conditions in this region to those of the Martian surface. Prof. Shaltout is also the Egyptian coordinator of a new radio telescope to be built at Abu Simbel in collaboration with the Max Planck Institut für Radioastronomie in Bonn. Details of this new instrument will be published in a future issue of African Skies/Cieux Africains.
Each year in January, the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) holds a Summer School in Astronomy at its headquarters in Cape Town. Summer School participants attend a programme of lectures on a broad spectrum of astronomical topics, as well as participating in a research project under the guidance of one of the SAAO astronomers. Participants also spend a week at the SAAO's observing station in Sutherland (about 400 km NE of Cape Town) obtaining observations on one of the SAAO's research telescopes. The Summer School is conducted in English.
The Summer School is gaining popularity among South African science students, and competition for places is keen. Applicants are required to submit an application form and letters of recommendation from their Professor or Head of Department. Successful applicants will normally have completed the third year of a Physics and/or Mathematics degree, but each application is judged on its merits. In support of the goals of the Working Group on Space Sciences in Africa, the SAAO offered places to two participants from institutes outside South Africa for the 1998 Summer School. This trial was very successful and the Working Group hopes again to arrange places for a limited number of non-South African participants at the 1999 Summer School. Readers interested in finding out more about the SAAO Summer School in Astronomy are invited to contact the Coordinator of WGSSA by email on the address wgssa@saao.ac.za .
The Working Group on Space Sciences in Africa has established a WWW site at http://www.saao.ac.za/~wgssa/ to promote itself and to serve the needs of its members. The site, which is still under development, currently has sections describing the aims of the Working Group, membership applications, back issues of African Skies/Cieux Africains, and hypertext links to related sites and additional web resources. The first implementation of the site was entirely in English, but French translations are currently being prepared and future visitors to the site will be able to view the material in their language of preference.
Since the WWW site is a shop window for our Working Group we would like to make it as interesting as possible. Members are therefore encouraged to contribute suggestions for additions and/or improvements. Future plans include an on-line database of African space scientists, a news section, and (possibly) a section containing freely available software of interest to our members. The site is being developed by Willie Koorts of the South African Astronomical Observatory (wpk@saao.ac.za), who would welcome suggestions for additions, corrections or improvements.
Dans le cadre du développement de l'Astrophysique dans les pays du Sud de la Méditerrannée, le MENRT patronne une Ecole d'Astrophysique pour les étudiants de Maîtrise de Physique des Universités de ces pays qui n'offrent pas encore de cours d'Astrophysique à leurs étudiants. Cette Ecole aura lieu à l'Observatoire de Haute-Provence (OHP) en France, au début du mois de Septembre 1998, durant une semaine.
Les télescopes spectroscopiques de 193 cm et 152 cm, et le télescope de 80 cm pour l'imagerie CCD seront à notre disposition durant 3 nuits.
Les enseignants sont des astronomes engagés dans l'étude de la variabilité stellaire. Cette Ecole rentre dans le cadre du projet de Télescopes Robotisés en Pays d'Orient (NORT project).
Les enseignements seront donnés principalement en Français. Certains exposés ou recherches bibliographiques auront lieu en Anglais.
Les frais de séjour sont financés par le MENRT et quelques bourses de voyage sont disponibles. Le nombre d'étudiants est limité à 20.
Les étudiants intéressés sont priés d'adresser leur candidature à F.R. Querci (OMP) par courrier postal, télécopie ou courrier électronique (coordonnées dans la couverture intérieure de la revue), en exprimant leur motivation et en incluant dans leur dossier une lettre de recommendation d'un professeur de leur École ou Université.
