Gaia People

Martin Altmann

Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Heidelberg

Martin Altmann joined the Gaia team in July 2007, working for the CU3 group in Heidelberg, led by Uli Bastian. His main responsibilities are the compilation of the Ecliptic Poles Catalogue, which will be used in the commissioning phase of Gaia, and the organisation of the Ground Based Optical Tracking (GBOT) Campaign which will take place during the whole active mission phase of Gaia. He is also one of the CU3 representatives of the Ground Based Observing Group (GBOG).

He studied physics and astronomy at the University of Bonn, from where he graduated in 1997 and was awarded his PhD in 2002. From 2001-2003 he also held a position at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg in the frame of the DIVA project. From 2003 to 2007 he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Universidad de Chile in Santiago de Chile.

Apart from Gaia, his main scientific interests are in Galactic astronomy, mainly, the older populations which allow the analysis of structure and formation of the Milky Way. Further interests are the late stages of low mass stars (horizontal branch stars), and galaxies at a whole.

Having transformed his premier hobby (astronomy) into his job, Martin Altmann, enjoys photography (nature and architecture), travelling, medieval history, and many other things.

[Published: 03/07/09]