Galaxies, Extrasolar Planets, and Stellar Physics: Gazing into the deep space, searching for new worlds, and insights into stellar interior physics

The ongoing activities of the Square Kilometer array (SKA) telescope have accelerated the development of Astronomy research on the African continent especially in the field of galactic studies. These activities are no longer concentrated in South Africa only, but have also spread to the Sub-Saharan African region. Furthermore, space missions such as NASA’s Kepler and NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) have further enhanced the development of other Astronomy research fields mainly, exoplanet and stellar physics exploration. The future of these research areas is expected to become even brighter with the magnificent observations expected from the ESA’s PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) mission planned to be launched in 2026. A number of African universities from the Sub-Saharan African region have embraced the open access data from these space missions and SKA telescopes, striving to make essential contributions to these research science fields, hence, aiding our understanding of the universe.

The Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik (MPA) in Germany and the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Science (IA) in Portugal in conjunction with Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) in Uganda are planning to organise a Sub-Saharan Africa Advanced Astronomy Summer School focusing on three fields of scientific research, namely galaxies, extra-solar planet science, and stellar interior physics. The goal of the summer school is to invite experts to share the state-of-the-art techniques/methods currently employed in these scientific research areas. In addition, research areas such as exoplanet and stellar physics studies have strong synergies and therefore present opportunities for generating research ideas which cut across the two fields, thus creating avenues for networking and building substantial collaborations among researchers and students in these fields. Students and Postdoc researchers will be given an opportunity to present their own research work in the form of posters.