The Africa Millimetre Telescope

M. Backes, C. Müller, J. E. Conway, R. P. Deane, R. Evans, H. Falcke, R. Fraga-Encinas, C. Goddi, T. P. Krichbaum, M. Klein Wolt, G. MacLeod, V. A.R.M. Ribeiro, F. Roelofs, Z. Q. Shen, H. J. Van Langevelde

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

Abstract

It is believed that supermassive black holes are found in the centres of galaxies, including the Milky Way. Still, only indirect evidence has been gathered for the existence of these enigmatic objects that are predicted by the general theory of relativity. With the Event Horizon Telescope, a Very Long Baseline Interferometry network of millimetre-wave (radio) telescopes, it will be possible to directly image the 'shadow' of the event horizon of the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way, Sgr A∗. Although the Event Horizon Telescope utilises an extensive network of telescopes, there is a huge gap in the coverage of the u-v-plane for these observations across Africa. We discuss the benefits of adding the Africa Millimetre Telescope to the Event Horizon Telescope and present Mt. Gamsberg in Namibia as the best site for this new and first mm-wave telescope in Africa.

Original languageEnglish
Article number029
JournalProceedings of Science
Volume2016-January
Publication statusPublished - 2016
Event4th Annual Conference on High Energy Astrophysics in Southern Africa, HEASA 2016 - Cape Town, South Africa
Duration: Jan 13 2016 → …

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General

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