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3D Model of the AMT, rendered on a picture of the telescope location, with night-sky added by AI

3D Model of the Africa Millimetre Telescope (AMT), rendered on a picture of the telescope location in the Khomas Highlands, Namibia, with night-sky added by AI.

Prof. Michael Backes

Research Chair (UNAM) & Visitor (Oxford)

Research theme

  • Astronomy and astrophysics
  • Particle astrophysics & cosmology

Sub department

  • Astrophysics

Research groups

  • Pulsars, transients and relativistic astrophysics
  • Gamma-ray astronomy
Telephone: +264-61-206-3789
Global Young Academy
orcid.org/0000-0002-9326-6400
SAO/NASA ADS
African Scientists Directory
DPG Young Leaders in Physics
mbackes@unam.na
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Dark Sky Tourism

More than 99% of European and North American residents live under light-polluted skies, and for a third of people worldwide the Milky Way is entirely obscured (Falchi et al. 2016).
Dark Sky Tourism

Where astronomy meets sustainable development

Link to the site

Research

Prof. Backes' research focuses on gamma-ray astronomy of Active Galactic Nuclei with the H.E.S.S. telescopes and the Cherenkov Telescope Array. Regarding the latter, he spearheaded the Namibian site bid and later initiated spectroscopic redshift determination of blazars with the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT). His research further encompasses advanced data analysis methods, camera electronics for very-high-energy gamma-ray astronomy, and site testing for future observatories. He pioneered the establishment of the Africa Millimetre Telescope (AMT) and developed its science programme regarding the monitoring of Active Galactic Nuclei.

For a summary of Prof. Backes' publications, see your preferred link below:

  • SAO/NASA ADS
  • INSPIRE-HEP
  • ORCID
  • Google Scholar
  • Scopus Author ID: 56231471000
  • Web of Science ResearcherID: N-5126-2016
  • ResearchGate
  • AD Scientific Index.

Also find him on the African Scientists Directory.

 

Here you find some selected presentations of his:

Multiwavelength Astronomy in Namibia

SAAO 200 Virtual Symposium

The Africa Millimetre Telescope Project in Namibia

African Astronomical Society Meeting, Cape Town, 14 March 2022 (invited plenary; starting at 57m54s)

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