Paper short abstract:

Africa hosts many astronomical observatories that take advantage of optimal observing conditions (dark, high & dry). There is an absence of images capturing these scientific endeavours & their discoveries. The audience is invited to view the film 'SKA≥Karoo Radio Telescope' before the presentation.

Paper long abstract:

Africa hosts many astronomical observatories that take advantage of optimal observing conditions, which include dark skies that are remote enough to not suffer from light pollution or radio pollution, high in altitude to reduce the amount of atmosphere that the light has to travel through, and dry so that a minimal number of days and nights are lost due to rain, cloud cover or bad weather. These observatories bring into focus the details of the celestial realm which cannot be seen with normal human eyes. The image of Africa as a place without science and scientists persists. Films, photographs and other images of Africa rarely if ever feature the ground-breaking science taking place such as their many astrophysics discoveries. Through a series of media efforts, the author has been foregrounding astronomy and astrophysics in Africa, as part of making new images telling this science story. The audience is invited to view the film 'SKA≥Karoo Radio Telescope' before the presentation (see https://youtu.be/ly3shX2qRuI). This presentation will include video clips highlighting the importance of these observatories to Africans, with a focus on the largest radio telescope in the world currently under construction in South Africa the Square Kilometre Array.