Speaker
Description
The Pan-African Citizen Science e-Laboratory (PACS e-Lab) is a nonprofit, education- and research-focused platform dedicated to advancing astronomy/Space Science, citizen science, and STEM education across Africa, with the slogan “Bringing the Stars to Your Doorsteps. We run several programs, including asteroid hunting in collaboration with the International Astronomical Search Collaboration (IASC), exoplanet photometry with NASA’s Exoplanet Watch, astrophotography, double-star astrometry with the Institute for Student Astronomical Research, and ISS radio contacts with astronauts through Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS). We also support telescope distribution in partnership with Jean-Pierre Grootaerd and the African Astronomical Society (AfAS), as well as public astronomy lectures with Free AstroScience. For observations, we use 0.4-meter Las Cumbres Observatory telescopes, Slooh, and MicroObservatory. Since our founding in December 2020, PACS e-Lab has reached tens of thousands of people across 50 of Africa’s 54 countries and beyond. Our scientific contributions include the detection of over 90 asteroids, the publication of more than 15 peer-reviewed papers on double stars, exoplanets, and our citizen-science activities, and the generation of numerous exoplanet photometric light curves. We have also distributed 10 telescopes to 10 countries across Africa.
PACS e-Lab is one of a kind on the continent and is growing rapidly. During the conference, we will highlight these efforts and our achievements."