In previous years Starlight in the university lab (Astrolab) was developed in Rwanda, Nigeria, and Zambia. Astrolab is an enquiry-based lab for undergraduate students. We organised a workshop in 2018 to give future tutors a thorough training to enable them to direct and monitor students performing their projects.
The objectives for 2019 are :
• On-site visit and training by the African members of the Astrolab consortium for new members of the group. This is done this year in various universities : Rhodes University/SKA-SA, Cape Town, South Africa; Technical University of Kenya (TUK), Nairobi, Kenya; National University of Science & Technology, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe; University of Venda, Thohoyandou, Limpopo, South Africa.
• Development of an Astrolab website platform for assistance, exchanging best practices and remote training . This platform is hosted by the South Africa Astronomical Observatory.
The website is http://astrolab.saao.ac.za . It is accessible with previous registration to the Astrolab users.
Project activities:
1. South Africa, February 2019, one-day Astrolab Session at Rhodes University/SKA-SA, Cape Town, South Africa, 15 participants. Observations with the 40cm from Las Cumbres Observatory.
2. Nigeria, University of Nigeria Nsukka, this semester a student is carrying out a project for his final year B.Sc using Astrolab.
3. Kenya, Technical University of Kenya (TUK), Nairobi, this semester 5 students are working on an Astrolab project carrying out observations with the 40cm from Las Cumbres Observatory
4. Rwanda, University of Rwanda Kigali. Presentation of Astrolab during the Cosmology training workshop, April, 1st-5th, 2019.
5. Zimbabwe, September 30th-October4th, one-week Astrolab session at National University of Science & Technology, Department of Applied Physics, Bulawayo; 20 participants expected.
6. South Africa , University of Venda, Thohoyandou, Limpopo. One-week workshop 18-22 November 2019 on Astrolab. 10 tutors from the Region will be trained on Astrolab, 20 participants (Bachelor students) are expected . Observations with the 40cm of Las Cumbres Observatory