Pretoria - South Africa has been selected by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to host the prestigious IAU Office for Astronomy Development (OAD).
To conclude the process, an agreement will be signed between the IAU and the National Research Foundation (NRF) in Pretoria today. The NRF is already responsible for the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO) and the South African Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Project Office.
The IAU Executive Committee awarded South Africa the right to host the office after evaluating proposals from 20 different countries. It said it was an extremely difficult process, given the high quality of so many of the proposals.
IAU President Robert Williams said: "Finding a home for the OAD is the first step in the execution of the most ambitious global plan ever conceived in astronomy for development. On the behalf of the IAU, I congratulate the SAAO and wish the new OAD every success in this exciting and important new venture."
The Director of the SAAO, Professor Phil Charles, said they are delighted at the confidence expressed in them.
"Astronomy is all about partnerships, and we look forward to strengthening those we already have, as well as to building new ones, as we use astronomy as a vehicle to introduce science and technology to a new generation.
"South Africa has been visionary in exploiting the country's natural strategic advantage in astronomy and using it as an integral part of its science and technology strategy, we aim to show that the skies are not the limit," said Charles.
The General Secretary of the IAU, Professor Ian Corbett, the Vice President of the IAU, Professor George Miley and the President of NRF, Dr Albert van Jaarsveld will participate in the signing of the landmark agreement today.
The agreement will be an acknowledgement of Africa's commitment to the development of astronomy.
The continent currently boasts two of the world's most advanced telescopes - Namibia's High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) and the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT), the largest single optical telescope in the southern hemisphere.
Africa has also been short-listed, together with Australia, to host the most powerful radio telescope ever, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The Karoo Array Telescope (MeerKAT), an SKA precursor telescope, is being built in the Karoo region. The construction of the seven dish MeerKAT prototype array is now complete.
