• Former head of Backhaus Working Group on Physics Education (Campus Essen) until 31^st July, 2011

Research Interests

• Physics education

• Experimental physics

• Dynamic systems

• Astronomy

Current Research

Astrometry, especially

• Orbit determination of the maior planets by simple means,
• Determination of the sun's parallax,
• Measurements of trigonometric parallaxes of stars, for instance of Barnard's star and 61 Cyg 

Astronomy On-Line: Measuring the Distance to the Sun

Astronomy On-Line: Measuring the Distance to The Sun - Final Report

Experiments for physics teachers

• Astronomical Laboratory Exercises (in german)
• Photographing the moon and measuring its distance
• Observing, Photographing and Evaluating the Transit of Venus 2004

Theory of Relativity:

• The appearance of fast moving objects

International Year of Astronomy 2009

• The horizontal Position of the Sun and the Shape of the Earth
• The Distance to the Moon

The transit of Venus 2012

Transit of Mercury 2016

Transit of Mercury 2019

 

 

Astronomy and internet in the Ruhr-area

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​​Materials for dealing with astronomical themes in school

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Example: Mars loop 2022/23
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Publications

List of typical publications

Publications and other material
Due to a cyber attack the former version of my homepage (www.didaktik.physik.uni-due.de/backhaus) is no more accessible. However, material with the url given there can be found by changing the first part of the former url, www.didaktik.physik.uni-due.de/backhaus/, by http://wp14169446.server-he.de/.

Example:
http://www.didaktik.physik.uni-due.de/backhaus/AstroMaterialien/   --> http://wp14169446.server-he.de/AstroMaterialien/