ENGINEERINGNET.BE – The Africa Millimeter Telescope (AMT) will be the first radio telescope in Africa to be sensitive to millimeter-wavelength radiation, and is part of a collaborative project between Radboud University and the University of Namibia (UNAM).
The aim of the project is to expand the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) network with radio telescopes in Namibia.
“Adding AMT to the EHT network enables more communication between telescopes, enabling better images and videos of our galaxy’s black hole,” said Hino Falk, the project’s scientific lead.
“We can better test our theory of black holes, and understand how they can generate large amounts of energy.”
AMT also operates as a standalone telescope, the only one of its kind in Africa. The telescope can observe differences in the brightness of large and small black holes – also in combination with optical or gamma-ray telescopes such as HESS in Namibia and CTA in Chile.
The 15 meter diameter telescope will be equipped with the latest generation of instruments. Similar telescopes have already been placed at the European Southern Observatory in Chile and at the Millimétrique Institute for Radio Astronomy on the Plateau de Borre in the French Alps.
The AMT is operated sustainably, using solar energy and possibly hydrogen.
Radboud University guarantees €1 million per year for the management and use of the telescope and participation in the EHT, for a period of ten years.
The university also guaranteed an investment of 1.9 million euros for the AMT telescope. This is a good basis for applying for subsidies and further investment.
To prepare the next generation of Namibians for AMT, the project has its own education and outreach programs, as well as collaborations with partners from local industry.
The AMT research program is being prepared by scientists from Radboud University, University of Amsterdam, MIT, ESO, University of Oxford, University of Turku, Aalto University, VLBI-Eric Joint Institute and UNAM.
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