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Conference Paper

Astronomy outreach in Namibia: H.E.S.S. and beyond

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Ruiz-Velasco,  Edna L.
Division Prof. Dr. James A. Hinton, MPI for Nuclear Physics, Max Planck Society;

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Citation

H.E.S.S. Collaboration, Dalgleish, H., Prokoph, H., Zhu, S., Backes, M., Cotter, G., et al. (2022). Astronomy outreach in Namibia: H.E.S.S. and beyond. Proceedings of Science, 395: 1397. doi:10.22323/1.395.1397.


Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-000C-12CA-C
Abstract
Astronomy plays a major role in the scientific landscape of Namibia. Because
of its excellent sky conditions, Namibia is home to ground-based observatories
like the High Energy Spectroscopic System (H.E.S.S.), in operation since 2002.
Located near the Gamsberg mountain, H.E.S.S. performs groundbreaking science by
detecting very-high-energy gamma rays from astronomical objects. The
fascinating stories behind many of them are featured regularly in the ``Source
of the Month'', a blog-like format intended for the general public with more
than 170 features to date. In addition to other online communication via social
media, H.E.S.S. outreach activities have been covered locally, e.g. through
`open days' and guided tours on the H.E.S.S. site itself. An overview of the
H.E.S.S. outreach activities are presented in this contribution, along with
discussions relating to the current landscape of astronomy outreach and
education in Namibia. There has also been significant activity in the country
in recent months, whereby astronomy is being used to further sustainable
development via human capacity-building. Finally, as we take into account the
future prospects of radio astronomy in the country, momentum for a wider range
of astrophysics research is clearly building -- this presents a great
opportunity for the astronomy community to come together to capitalise on this
movement and support astronomy outreach, with the overarching aim to advance
sustainable development in Namibia.