Zimbabwean Astronomical Society

At the 2025 African Astronomical Society conference (@AfricaAstronomy) I had the privilege of presenting two talks and a poster! 1 talk and 1 poster related to my current PhD research, and 1 talk related to work taking place with the Zimbabwean Astronomical Society (@ZAS_Office)

We as ZAS would like to express our gratitude to Ms. Victória Samboco for presenting the first seminar of our monthly series! . Students from UZ and NUST attended online and in person, and we expect this to continue in the coming months! 🙏🏾 . #zas #amas #zimbabwe #astronomy

I was so honoured today to not only give a seminar at our National University of Science and Technology (@nustzim) but also to be interviewed by NUST FM! 🙂 I talked about my phd research to date, and the upcoming plans we have as ZAS, I look forward to coming again soon 😀

This grant application was spearheaded by ZAS Vice-President Thobekile Ngwane (@IAmToeBee) , with assistance from ZAS Chair of Education and National Outreach Coordinator for Zimbabwe, Professor Nyambuya (@gadzirai), and ZAS President Shingirai Makechemu (@JSMakechemu)

We as ZAS are pleased to announce that we have been awarded an @IAU_Outreach Microfunding grant! 🥳 . We express our gratitude to @IAU_Outreach, and the Director of the office, Dr. Kelly Blumenthal. . We look forward to putting our equipment into use! . #zimbabwe #astronomy #zas

At the Astronomical Society of Harare’s monthly meeting, ZAS president Shingirai (@jsmakechemu) met with astronomy enthusiasts eager to play a role in future ZAS events, in Harare and Bulawayo, stay tuned for Astrophotography and Outreach updates 🇿🇼💫 #zas #zimbabwe #astronomy

During DEx XXI, ZAS President Shingirai Makechemu (@jsmakechemu ), showed how star-formation ceases in gas-rich nearby galaxies in a talk titled “Evaluating the Role of the Toomre Q Parameter in the Gas Stability of Early-Type Galaxies”. #Zimbabwe #zas #astronomy 🇿🇼💫

ZINGSA is set for a significant boost in funding as the Zimbabwean government allocates ZiG 64.22 million (USD 1.78 million) to operationalise its space programme in 2025. spaceinafrica.com/2025/01/10/zim…

Applications are open for the 2025 MPIA Summer Internship for bachelor and master students! Deadline: 15 January 2025 More details: mpia.de/en/careers/int…

Professor Nyambuya, the education and outreach chair of the Zimbabwean Astronomical Society has published a new paper titled “On a Plausible Solution to the Hubble Tension via the Hypothesis of Cosmologically Varying Fundamental Natural Constants”! zimbabweanastronomicalsociety.org/professor-nyam…

Registrations are now open!!! We encourage abstract submissions from everyone, including students, early-career researchers and outreach professionals. Abstracts submission deadline: 20 December 2024. Register here: conference.afasociety.org #afas2025 #africalookup

Many many thanks must be extended to Dr. Gift Muchatibaya, Dr. Terrence Mushore, Prof. Emmanuel Mashonjowa, Mr. Peter Morris, Mr. Tony Alegria, Mr. Makhosi Mpofu, Ms. Michaela Baker and Mr. Shingirai Makechemu for helping make this event a resounding success 🙌🏾

An event marking the introduction of the Zimbabwean Astronomical Society took place on Saturday the 19th of October at the University of Zimbabwe! This was supported by the department of Space Science and Applied Physics, and chaired by the ZAS VP @jsmakechemu 🙂

We had a great turnout where UZ space science students, UZ lecturers, and representatives from local schools were present. As well as a keen crowd of people interested in astronomy. Information on how to join ZAS was given, as well as for the astronomical society of Harare 😁

We were then blessed to have the Astronomical Society of Harare give a talk on their activities and amateur astronomy, followed by an evening of observations where we managed to observe the once in an 80,000 year comet “C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS”! ☄️

We had science talks on space weather, and nearby and distant galaxies by Mr. Makhosi Mpofu and Mr Shingirai Makechemu respectively 🌌 Followed by a discussion on astronomy in indigenous languages and culture

Ladies and Gentlemen, Permit me to introduce Ms. @IAmToeBee, one of Africa’s young, professional female astronomers. She is the President of the @ZAS_Office

We appreciate Dr. Charles Takalani and his AfAS team for their generosity in donating a telescope for our noble cause.

Today, we extend our heartfelt appreciation to Ms. @IAmToeBee , the President of the @ZAS_Office Our journey with Ms. Ngwane began in July 2022, through a recommendation by Prof. Shazrene Mohammed, as we sought a regional citizen science collaborator from Zimbabwe. It has