Learning about the night sky in Cameroon

During the first two weeks after I arrived at my site in Cameroon, the power went out every night. As an astronomer, I saw an opportunity where others might have seen a problem! Thankfully, I had brought a telescope and binoculars with me to Cameroon. The night sky here is beautiful, and it is worth it to go outside and enjoy it every night.

After seeing me going outside with binoculars in hand, two friends asked me what binoculars were for. I told them that I use them to look at the stars every chance I get, and offered to show them some cool things through my telescope.

It was the first time either of them used a telescope. Their faces lit up when they saw Jupiter, the Orion Nebula, and the Pleiades for the first time. My friend Hamadjoda, who began to accompany me and my telescope on every clear night, was very excited to see the four moons of Jupiter and even recognized a few constellations.

In March, I held my first “star party.” Over the course of one night, about seven people gathered to take turns looking through my telescope for their first time. It was great to watch each person get excited about seeing new things in the night sky.

The next morning, I woke up wondering how to make this type of experience more common in my area of Cameroon. I reached out to a group called Cameroon Astronomy and Space Research Organization (CASRO) to ask if I could help with their outreach efforts. As it happened, they wanted to expand access to the South region as well and asked me to contact a university scholar to help start the first astronomy club in the South.

After a few attempts to meet with the busy astronomy professor, I finally managed to talk to him, and we are now moving forward with creating the first astronomy group in the area.