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Africa hosts ‘Olympics of astronomy’ for the first time

Updated Aug 7, 2024, 9:42am EDT
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The International Astronomical Union’s General Assembly — held every four years and so, inevitably, known as the Olympics of astronomy — is being hosted in Africa for the first time.

The 32nd meeting of the world’s top space researchers started in Cape Town Monday.

South Africa and several other southern African nations, alongside Australia, will be home to the world’s largest radio telescope, the Square Kilometer Array, the first stage of which is set for completion in 2027. That, as well as the continent’s growing scientific prowess, led to the decision to host the assembly there.

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This is a significant milestone,” one African astronomer wrote in The Conversation: Space science in Africa “has grown and strengthened tremendously over the past decade.”

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