Japan to build observatory in Ghana

Tema, Aug. 28, GNA - Japan is to build a 25,000-dollar I-Observatory with an ordinary Internet telescope at Tema Secondary School, located on the Greenwich Meridian.

The I-Observatory would be interactive with user-operable remote control system with which he or she could access images and experience real astronomical observations.

Prof Takehiko Satoh, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, Kumamato University, said this at the Science, Technology and Mathematics Education (STME) clinic for girls and boys drawn from junior secondary school (JSS) and senior secondary schools (SSS) in the Tema Municipality.

A consortium of Science Universities in Japan including Kumamoto, Shinshu, Chiba and Keio Senior High School, in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service (GES) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) decided to put the project under the Ghana-Japan Collaboration in Science Education.

He said an I-Observatory could be placed anywhere in the world as long as it is connected via the Internet.

However, the best place to build such a system is on the opposite side of the earth relative to the user, with half a day of time difference so that true night sky could be viewed during classes at daytime.

Prof Satoh said Ghana is located on the prime meridian and there exists nine hours time difference with Japan. Classes begin in the morning in Japan when it is about midnight in Ghana.

Japanese students would be able to view astronomical objects with true experiences utilising the I-Observatory in Ghana and the same applies to Ghanaian students.

The equipment would be placed on the rooftop of the administration block of the school. The project is scheduled for completion by the end of the year.