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Draft:Department of Astronomy and Space-College of Science-University of Baghdad

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Introduction

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Department of Astronomy and Space
Formation1998
Legal statusNon-profit, Official
Location
  • Baghdad, Iraq
Coordinates33.275066, 44.380116
AffiliationsCollege of Science University of Baghdad

The Department of Astronomy and Space at the College of Science, University of Baghdad, was established in 1998. The department has undergraduate (BSc) and postgraduate (M.Sc. and Ph.D.) programs..[1]. It's located at Baghdad University campus in Baghdad, Iraq. This is the only department currently providing higher education about astronomy in Iraq[2][3].

The Department aims towards academic development in the field of astronomy and astrophysics in Iraq, it's the so far only official academic institution that specializes in the fields of astronomy, astrophysics, space physics, and all other related topics.

The Department is currently the national representative of Iraq in the International Astronomical Union (IAU), since 2021[4] , with currently 23 individual and junior members.

Foundation

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The department's establishment was a part of the Iraqi project for astronomy since the late 1960's, when the Iraqi government assigned Dr. May Aref Kaftan to help establish the department of astronomy in the University of Baghdad[5]. She was a part of astronomers team who put the general scheme for the department of astronomy, and they also proposed the project of Korek Observatory in Erbil province northern Iraq. Later, the observatory project took all the team's efforts, while forming the astronomy department was postponed.

During the 1st Gulf War (1980-1988), Korek Observatory took a direct hit and went out of service[6], and the whole astronomy project in Iraq was stopped.

In the 1990's, Iraqi government's attention was again brought to the field of astronomy and astrophysics, due to the by-then accelerated global attention about the field, with the newly emerging technologies of communications, satellite broadbanding and the internet. In 1998, the department was established by the name "Department of Astronomy" and added to the other departments of the College of Science at the University of Baghdad. In 1999, the department name was changed to "Department of Astronomy and Space."

Since 1998 to 2014, the department was located within the building of the Department of Physics, then in 2014, it was moved to the new G building currently located in the middle of the College of Science.

Studies and Facilities

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A group of department students in 2022
BURT, 3-meter radio telescope at the Department of Astronomy and Space

Field of study at the B.Sc. level includes, general astronomy, galactic physics, thermodynamics, modern physics, nuclear astrophysics, and more. B.Sc. is given after four years study, with a degree in astronomy and astrophysics. M.Sc. level has more advanced topics, such as advanced stellar physics, mathematical physics, space physics communications, and more[7]. As for the Ph.D. level, the courses are more advanced on satellites, ionosphere physics, advanced cosmological plasma, and more[8]. To 2019, there were 77 M.Sc. and 24 Ph.D. graduated students from this department[9].

The department has a 3-meter radio telescope, Baghdad University Radio Telescope (BURT) [10]which facilitate current research on radio astronomy in Iraq. This is the only operating radio telescope at the University of Baghdad in the band of 1.402 GHz[11][12][13][14]

Courses

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The department offers a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree after the students finish four-years study program. Each academic year typically lasts from early September to mid of next June, according to the academic calendar issued by the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. Studying in the department is free, because it is an official one, like all other departments in the University of Baghdad.

Each level in the B.Sc. program is made of two courses, each usually lasts for 4 months. A midterm and final examination are also required after the first and second courses, respectively.

The following are principal courses for each of the four levels during the academic year of 2023[15]. Most courses are downloadable from the department's Google Drive [16]

First Level

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-Classical mechanics

-Mathematics 1

-Computer programming 1

-Geology

-Chemistry

Second Level

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-Atomic physics

-Modern physics

-Numerical analysis

-Stellar physics

-Mathematics

-Computer programming 2

Third Level

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-Galaxy dynamics

-Dynamical mechanics

-Remote sensing

-Quantum mechanics

-Thermodynamics

Fourth Level

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-Nuclear physics

-Plasma physic

-Cosmology

-Mathematics 3

-Graduation project

Activities

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The department held the Second International Conference of Astronomy and Space Physics (ICAS-2) between 24th to 26th October 2023[17]. The first conference was held in 2000.

The department has participated in the Asteroid Day "a UN-sanctioned global awareness campaign participated annually on 30 June each year".[18]

There were five astronomy exhibitions held by the department since 2015 till now. These events were made to promote the subject of astronomy in Iraq, and many amateur of astronomy took part in these events[19] [20][21].

There have been suggestions for establishing the Iraqi Space Agency from department staff[22]

References

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  1. ^ "Official website for the College of Science University of Baghdad". كلية العلوم جامعة بغداد الموقع الرسمي (in Arabic). 2024-08-01. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
  2. ^ Hamid, Rojgar (2009-09-14). "Global Astronomy Survey: Iraq". Developing Astronomy Globally. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
  3. ^ Al-Edhari, Ali; Al-Feadh, Doha; Abdullah, Ahmed; Algareb, Rawaa; Khailany, Eyad. "Astronomy Education in Iraq" (PDF). "Astronomy Education Worldwide" project of the International Astronomical Union's Office of Astronomy for Education. International Astronomical Union; Office of Astronomy for Education (IAU-OAE). Retrieved 2024-08-12 – via IAU.
  4. ^ "International Astronomical Union | IAU". www.iau.org. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
  5. ^ "Office Opened by Dr. Kasim". 1964-03-04. p. 14. Archived from the original on 2019-06-07. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  6. ^ Salih, Sabr (2023-11-21). "Korek Observatory: Kurdistan's Window to the Stars". Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  7. ^ "Department of Astronomy and Space on Academia website". Academia. 2024-08-10. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
  8. ^ "الدراسة الأولية لقسم الفلك والفضاء". كلية العلوم (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-08-02.
  9. ^ "المستودع الرقمي العراقي". iqdr.iq. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
  10. ^ Mehdi, Hareth (2023). "Determination of the Time and Coordinates Required for Measuring Milky Way's Rotation Curve Using BURT in 2023". Iraqi Journal of Science. 64 (5): 2627–2635. doi:10.24996/ijs.2023.64.5.43.
  11. ^ Ahmed, H. K.; Abood, K. M. (2023). "Study of spectrometer parameter for BURT 3-meter radio telescope". AIP Conference Proceedings. TECHNOLOGIES AND MATERIALS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY: TMREES22Fr. 2769 (1): 020026. Bibcode:2023AIPC.2769b0026A. doi:10.1063/5.0129541.
  12. ^ Jalood, Uday, E.; Ali, Lana T.; Mahdi, Hareth S.; Abood, Kamal M. (2023-08-06). "Improving the BURT's Sensitivity using Noise Calibration Unit via Crab Nebula Observations". Karbala International Journal of Modern Science. 9 (3): 443–449. doi:10.33640/2405-609X.3306.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Hoobi, Mohammed R.; Abood, Kamal M. (2019). "Calibration of a Three Meter Small Radio Telescope in Baghdad University using the Sun as a Reference Source". Iraqi Journal of Science. 60 (1): 171–177. doi:10.24996/ijs.2019.60.1.18 (inactive 1 November 2024).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
  14. ^ "A Model of Sky Temperature Estimation at 1.42 GHz using University of Baghdad's Radio Telescope". Iraqi Journal of Science. 62 (11). A Special Issue for 2nd International Conference of Al-Karkh University of Science (ISC2UK2020): 4537–4544. 2021. doi:10.24996/ijs.2021.62.11(SI).33.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  15. ^ "Courses description of the Department of Astronomy and Space". Retrieved 2024-08-13.
  16. ^ "B.Sc. Lectures of the Department of Astronomy and Space / University of Baghdad". Google Drive of Astronomy and Space BSc Lectures. Retrieved 2024-08-13.
  17. ^ "Home". International Conference of Astronomy and Space. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
  18. ^ "Asteroid Day in Iraq". Asteroid Day. 2022-09-14. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
  19. ^ Awla (2022-01-26). "العراق ينضم إلى الاتحاد الدولي للفلك وجامعة بغداد تفتتح المعرض الفلكي الخامس (in Arabic)". Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  20. ^ "المعرض الفلكي الخامس في نشرة سديم الالكترونية(in Arabic)". 2022-02-05.
  21. ^ "مشاركة فاعلة لكلية العلوم في فعاليات المعرض الفلكي الثاني (in Arabic)". Almustansiriyah University. 2016-12-27. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  22. ^ Alsalami, Amena (2022-03-13). "مشاريع فلكية بالتعاون مع المؤسسات الدولية وآمال بإنشاء وكالة فضاء عراقية (in Arabic)". Iraqi News Agency (INA). Retrieved 2024-08-12.
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