The department of astronomy and space at the college of science participated in a specialized virtual symposium via Zoom app held by the UN Regional Center for Space Science and Technology Education for Western Asia in Jordan, the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences, the Jordanian Astronomical Society and the International Center for Relativistic Astrophysics (ICRA) in a tribute to the departed Iraqi scientist “May Kaftan”.
The participants celebrated the memory of this scientist who died a few days ago as being the first Iraqi astronomer & former director of the Iraqi Astronomical Observatory Project, having Ph.D. in radio astronomy from Harvard University and one of the first scholars who presented significant research on hydrogen clouds in USA.
This event witnessed an opening speech by Dr. Awni Khasawneh, the Director General of the UN Regional Center for Space Science & Technology Education for Western Asia, a speech of the deceased’ family, as well as an introduction on astronomy in Iraq by Prof. Dr. Hameed al-Nuaimi the President of the Arab Union of Space and Astronomy and director of the University of Sharjah, a speech by Dr. Samir Rauf Attar the former Undersecretary of the ministry of science and technology in Iraq who has worked with the deceased for years, a lecture on astronomical observatories in Iraq by Prof. Dr. Majid Jarad from the University of Anbar, a short biography & works of her by Dr. Shaker Abdul Aziz Abdullah, a specialist in radio astronomy who has co-authored several prestigious literature and at last a quick glimpse by Prof. Dr. Barakat Al-Bataina from Yarmouk University, Jordan.