Programme

The symposium takes place on 7 and 8 March at the South African Astronomical Observatory in Cape Town. It has the following tentative schedule. Details about presentations can be found on the presentations page.

Wednesday, 7 March

09:00 Registration
10:00 Welcome by Clifford Nxomani, Deputy CEO of the NRF, and Petri Vaisanen, Director of the SAAO

10:30 – 11:00 Tea/coffee

11:00 – 12:30 Session 1: Beyond visual-region observing

11:00 Bernard Fanaroff History of the SKA SA
11:30 Christo Venter The History of Gamma-Ray Astronomy in South Africa
12:00 George Ellis Cosmology in South Africa

12:30 – 13:30 Lunch

13:30 – 15:00 Session 2: Outreach and education

13:30 Case Rijsdijk Outreach and publicity – history and current
14:00 Lucia Marchetti Hemelliggaam / The attempt to be here now
14:30 Kurt Van Der Heyden The NASSP and HCD in South Africa

15:00 – 15:30 Tea/coffee

15:30 – 17:00 Session 3: Outreach, practical history

15:30 Matie Hoffmann Planetariums in South Africa
16:00 Auke Slotegraaf Archival Rescue: Lessons learnt at the Royal Observatory/SAAO
16:30 Lerothodi Leeuw and Jarita Holbrook Oral histories of individuals involved in astronomy in South Africa – progress and future plans

17:15 – 18:15 Tour of the SAAO Cape Town buildings and domes

19:00 Dinner at the Wild Fig

The Protea Hotel is close by. A vegetarian option is available.

Thursday, 8 March

09:00 – 10:30 Session 4: Particular Observatories

09:00 Mike Feast The Radcliffe Observatory Pretoria, from Start to Finish
09:30 Ian Glass History of the R O Cape
10:00 Dawid van Jaarsveld One dream ignites another:  A short history of the transformation of Lamont-Hussey Observatory

10:30 – 11:00 Tea/coffee

11:00 – 12:30 Session 5: Present and Future / 2020 events

11:00 David Buckley A History of SALT
11:30 Daniel Cunnama Celebrating 200 years of the Cape Town Observatory
12:00 Kechil Kirkham Engaging the general public in astronomical heritage – the bicentenary celebrations and a public exhibition

12:30 – 13:30 Lunch

13:30 – 15:00 Session 6

13:30 Keith Gottschalk Astronomy, Space and Politics
14:00 Maciej Soltynski Gill and the RTC
14:30 Chris de Coning Prominent amateur astronomers of the early ASSA

15:00 – 15:30 Tea/coffee

15:30 – 17:00 Session 7

15:30 Willie Koorts The 1882 Transit of Venus and its relics
16:00 Jarita Holbrook and Lerothodi Leeuw Workshop on Oral History Interviews

17:00 End of Symposium