Outreach & Media
Keen on sharing his passion for astronomy, Prof. Backes heads the of the .
He has featured in a multitude of radio interviews (in German and English), in and the (also as headline on : , 27/01/2020) and also in television as listed below.
Interview with Prof. Michael Backes and Dr Eli Kasai about astronomy in Namibia.
Interview with Dr Eli Kasai and Prof. Michael Backes about astronomy in Namibia.
Accompanying news article:
"Namibia is an ideal location for research into astronomy and astrophysics. There are quite a number of reasons for that claim – and actually some interesting ones", says Dr Eli Kasai, Senior Lecturer and Head of Department at the University of Namibia’s Department of Physics, Chemistry and Material Science.
Interview with Dr Michael Backes about the long GRB afterglow detected by H.E.S.S.
CNN - Inside Africa
Cable News Network World, 15/04/2020:
Southern African Stargazers
Cutting-edge astronomy and ground-breaking projects in South Africa and Namibia are pioneering new ways of seeing the universe.
Accompanying news article:
NBC - Good Morning Namibia
Namibia Broadcasting Cooperation, Windhoek, 12/04/2019
Interview with Dr Michael Backes and his student Lott Frans about the Africa Millimetre Telescope project in Namibia.
Mirjana Povic, Michael Backes, and Kevin Govender discuss diversity and the African/European collaboration at EWASS 2018 with Marieke Baan, and Robert Massey from the Royal Astronomical Society. Filmed on day three of the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science (EWASS), held at the Arena & Convention Centre (ACC), Liverpool, United Kingdom, 3 – 6 April 2018.
also available on .
Interview with Dr Michael Backes and two students about H.E.S.S. in Namibia
S. Taapopi - Namibia is on the map when it comes to science, especially in astrophysics as many scientists aspire to carry out astronomical observations in the country. The University of Namibia (UNAM) announced this week that Namibians were among a group of international scientists who won the Physics World 2017 Breakthrough of the Year award. Senior Lecturer in the Department of Physics at UNAM, Dr Michael Backes, says astrophysics research is a prestigious project and good exposure for Namibia.