Zara Randriamanakoto Quotes

Like humans, a star cluster is born, lives, and dies. The duration of this process could be up to a few billion years or more.

I did my undergraduate degree in physics, then a BSc Honours in energy physics at the University of Antananarivo. I then did postgraduate studies in astronomy and astrophysics (BSc Honours, Masters and then PhD thesis) at the University of Cape Town. I obtained my PhD in astronomy in 2015. Between 2015 and 2018, I was a SKA postdoc at the same university.

I am currently expanding my research topic to the study of star clusters.

The main challenges I encountered were the language barriers (switching from French to English), exposure to a diverse culture in South Africa and especially adapting to the new educational system at the University of Cape Townbwhich required a lot of self-learning, self-discipline and perseverance.

The SKA project has helped put Africa on the map of the astronomy world and this is just the beginning.

My research topics mainly revolve on multi-wavelength investigation of young massive star clusters in interacting and collisional ring galaxies. I am also interested in the life cycle of radio AGN.

Making a career in science in Africa is no longer a utopia. Believe in your dreams! But remember that there is no such thing as chance. Success does not fall from the sky.

Nothing predestined me to become an astronomer. I moved to Antananarivo for my university studies at the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Antananarivo. I obtained a master's degree in energy physics from the physics department in 2007.

I learned everything from her. She is a strong woman, who fought all her life to give us an education and against illness too. She is my first role model and gave me this energy, this fighting spirit, this strength of character."

Have the audacity to protect your dreams, if you can dream it, you can do it. If you aspire to be an astrophysicist, start building your path towards your goal. Find a mentor along the way.

To study astronomy astronomers need to look deep into the sky. This requires specialized equipment, techniques and skills. Eventually, modified versions of these tools and their way into our daily lives, such as in the manufacture of wireless network protocols (Wi-Fi), closed-circuit television and mobile phone cameras.

Although my research work is currently based in South Africa, I have also been supervising M2 students in astrophysics at the University of Antananarivo since 2017.

I am often asked why I study astronomy and how useful it is in our daily lives. The reality is that astronomy is a long-term investment, and although its benefits might not always be evident it has significant impact in many ways.

It is the IAU that has the power to say what a planet is and that decided to place Pluto in another category, that of dwarf planets. I told myself that for Madagascar to be on the world map of astronomy, we had to join such an institution

I am a research astronomer at SAAO. My research interests revolve around multiwavelength observations of interacting and collisional ring galaxies to help investigate the formation and evolution mechanisms of young massive clusters. I also work on radio loud AGN to study the AGN duty cycle using deep radio continuum surveys.