I arrived yesterday to Tanzania and the Mt. Meru Astronomical Observatory, operated by the Organization for Science Education and Observatory. I am immediately reminded of the beauty of this place, with roosters and song birds bringing the morning, elephants calling at the close of the day, and a body of dedicated teachers and eager students wanting to learn about the dark, East African night skies.
Today we moved the four crates that contain the telescope shipped in January to the observatory itself, opened and unpacked, and prepared a simple workflow for the days ahead. While waiting for the contractor to arrive to inspect the wiring, I gave an impromptu whiteboard lecture on the differences between an altazimuth and equatorial telescope mount; and two of the ways we can detect exoplanets.
