Benard Nsamba leads astronomy outreach to Ugandan secondary schools

After organizing the first international astronomy summer school in East Africa in 2022, Branco Weiss Fellow Benard Nsamba has led a new astronomy outreach. Together with the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA) Partner Group at Kyambogo University in Uganda he visited selected secondary schools in Eastern Uganda where he gave a talk on “Emerging scientific 21st century careers in Africa” and two demonstrations – one on telescope assembling and viewing, and one on refractive index merging – reaching a total of about 350 students.

Dr. Nsamba is very pleased with the outcome of his outreach: “Our activities were a success and every school we go to is always willing to give us more time or even a whole day with the students” he says. “The telescopes we purchased significantly cause curiosity and excitement in students and make our activity goals easier to attain.” In a talk at the African Astronomical society meeting taking place from March 13 to 17, he will present some of the experiences gained in the astronomy outreach program. A second talk will cover the “Influence of Gaia-based data on grid-search models”.

Read more about Benard Nsamba’s astronomy outreach program