stateastronomyintanzania

State of Astronomy in Tanzania

State of Astronomy in Tanzania

and Challenges Ahead

Poster presented at:

1^st Middle East, Africa Regional IAU Meeting (MEARIM), 5 – 10 April 2008, Cairo Egypt

In this poster, the past and ongoing astronomy activities are presented with a view to highlight progress, impediments and challenges in Tanzania. Very slow progress in making significant impact on developing astronomy is discussed. Future plans arising from recent contacts are expected to lead to significant developments in astronomy. The state of astronomy in Africa is compared from the point of view of a country in which this exciting field has stagnated for decades. It is concluded that the world astronomy community, through opportunities offered by the International Year of Astronomy 2009, can take proactive and concerted action to develop sustainable astronomy infrastructures as a catalyst to attract national recognition, investment and development of astronomy in Africa.