PASSION TRAVELS FASTER THAN LIGHT

And why the Africa Millimetre Telescope has won an international medal

We are building a telescope in Namibia to get better images of black holes. But it’s much more than just bricks and mirrors and high-speed data wires. The Africa Millimetre Telescope (AMT) is being built for the Namibians and with the Namibians. But we – scientists from the University of Namibia (UNAM) and the Radboud University in The Netherlands – don’t just build and leave. The whole idea is to create a long-term awareness and interest of what’s going on in that amazing, clear night sky above Namibia. To this end, one of our key activities is the mobile planetarium – a blow-up mobile universe creating a social impact in even the most remote areas of Namibia. The AMT project continues to draw more and more attention and recently the AMT mobile planetarium team won the prestigious Annie Maunder Medal, a prize awarded by the Royal Astronomical Society for outstanding education and outreach efforts.

INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION

Our mobile planetarium project travels around the country to help educate children and communities and show the wonders of our universe to a very diverse audience. Our team is led by Zandré Duyvenhage from Windhoek, who knows exactly why our social impact project has won this international award: “One thing that travels faster than light is passion. The team’s passion for the universe is what people notice and what has drawn international attention. We are making science accessible to the people in an exciting manner by sharing knowledge about the wonders of creation with those who don’t necessarily have access to it. The big ‘why’ of being awarded with this medal is the passion and the heart of the team sharing their passion with others.”

CARS AND PLANES

Right now, the team consists of 18 students from UNAM who give their all to spread the knowledge and share their passion for science with as many children and adults as possible. They study physics and/or astronomy and are able to teach and inspire the next generation. During their weekends and free time, they hop into cars and planes (thanks to FlyNamibia) to travel to the most remote corners of the country. Even when it is not easy (read: really hard) to pay for their education and they have side jobs to keep themselves at university, they do find the time, motivation and energy to show up and tell others about the stars, the planets, the Milky Way and beyond. On busy days, they give shows inside the dome hour after hour, sometimes with cooked brains due to all the questions from the kids and the heat that builds up inside as the unforgiving Namibian sun burns outside. But they present each show as if it were the first time they saw the universe themselves.

ESTABLISHING A BASE

Our ‘man in Namibia’ Zandre (30) is a husband, father and a Our “man in Namibia”, Zandré (30) is a husband, father and member of a local church. “As a representative for the AMT project, I support the efforts to make sure that the telescope is coming to Namibia and that it will be constructed at the right place and at the right time. My other task is to establish a base for the AMT and bring it to life in a sustainable manner. I coordinate the team and the planetarium’s daily activities so that as many Namibians as possible can experience the wonders of the universe, and I work with local stakeholders who support the project.” He studied Law in Potchefstroom (South Africa) and worked at a law firm in Windhoek when his attention was drawn to a lecture on the AMT back in 2019. “I had a general interest in space, but I never thought of working in the space business. I just never dreamt it would be possible for me. And suddenly I found myself right in the middle of it. Wow!”

A NEVER DREAMT DREAM

A lecture on the AMT project lit a fire within his soul. He walked up to the director of the project, Dr Marc Klein Wolt, and told him he wanted to be a part of the project. In 2022, a dream beyond belief came true as Zandré joined the team. Since then, he has learned a tremendous amount about astronomy by acting like a sponge (in his words: “I feel like Einstein’s driver!”), reading books, watching videos and asking questions. “And the more I learn, the more it enthuses me,” he adds. When teaching kids at school, he always starts by telling them how they would like to improve the image of the black hole, “because right now it looks like a fuzzy orange donut.” Imagining that the telescope in Namibia could help improve that image makes it more relatable for them.

THE NIGHT SKY

Zandré also tells them about Dr Japie van Zyl, the Namibian electrical engineer who was responsible for many of the Mars landings while at NASA. “Everyone knows Elon Musk, but he hasn’t landed anything on Mars yet – a Namibian has. I’ve heard that the thing that got Van Zyl to study electronic engineering and work at NASA was looking up at the Namibian night sky as a kid. That makes us want to catch the right kids at the right time, no matter how remote they live. We don’t even want these children to become astronomers. We want them to be curious, to ask questions, wanting to know more and eventually become good problem solvers. We’ve had over 12,000 people visiting the planetarium in 18 months, so statistically it’s very possible we have inspired at least someone, right?”

The Africa Millimetre Telescope (AMT) is a project run by the Radboud University (The Netherlands) and the University of Namibia (UNAM) with the aim of building a 15-metre-large radio telescope on or near Gamsberg Mountain. This telescope will be unique in its kind, as it is set to be the first completely newly built facility to be part of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) – the project that realised the historical first image of a black hole – and it will be the only telescope of its kind in the whole of Africa. An integral part of the AMT project is a social programme which includes a mobile planetarium – an inflatable dome that can host up to 30 kids at a time and in which shows about the wonders of the universe are displayed in an interactive way. FlyNamibia, together with Nedbank, Gondwana, Lithon Foundation, Minds in Action, Ineos Grenadiers, the Namibia Scientific Society, GREE, Perfect Glass, and Eduvision are proud sponsors of the AMT mobile planetarium.

It all started when Dr Marc Klein Wolt, director of the project, wanted to make a difference. During a brainstorming session with the honorary consul of Namibia in The Netherlands, Cornélie van Waegeningh, the idea of travelling with a mobile planetarium came up. He says, “The telescope is for this country and we want to do it together with the Namibians. We want to inspire the next generation and play a role in educating children and communities. Thanks to our highly qualified, hard-working and motivated team we can make this wish come true.”