Category: News items

Open Days SRON

{multithumb thumb_width=280} SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research will be opening its doors again to the public. On Sunday 7 oktober 2012 visitors are most welcome in Utrecht and on Sunday 21 oktober 2012 in Groningen. There will be prsentations, demonstrations, lectures and films on the latetst developments in space science. Children can enjoy a special programme. At both locations …

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Fireworks in the early Universe

{multithumb thumb_width=300} Galaxies in the early universe grew fast by rapidly making new stars. Such prodigious star formation episodes, characterized by the intense radiation of the newborn stars, were often accompanied by fireworks in the form of energy bursts caused by the massive central black hole accretion in these galaxies. This discovery with the Herschel …

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ALMA Band-9 receivers detect sugar near Sun-like star

{multithumb thumb_width=250} With the help of the ALMA Band-9 receivers built by SRON and other parties, sugar molecules have been detected in the gas around a young Sun-like star. This is the first time sugar has been detected in the space around such a star. The discovery shows that the building blocks for life are …

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Utrecht scientists support global greenhouse gas measurement network

SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research and the University of Utrecht lead a international group of scientists who urge the developed countries to contribute to a global greenhouse gas measurement network, in spite of the financial crises. Due to budget cuts with the American Earth System Research Laboratory this network is in danger of being dismantled. Sinds het begin van de jaren 80 …

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SRON rated ‘excellent’

An international evaluation committee has assessed SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research as ‘excellent’, the highest score that can be achieved. The committee was impressed, for example by how the institute had made use of the resources available in the period 2005-2010 to maintain and strengthen its leading national and international position in space research. …

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First space-qualified immersed gratings ready for launch

SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research has supplied the first space-qualified immersed gratings this week. These gratings will be the first in the world to be used in space. They will be placed in the TROPOMI instrument, which will survey air pollution and greenhouse gases from space from 2015 onwards. The high-tech gratings developed by …

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Demonstration model ‘immersed grating’ for European Extremely Large Telescope

{multithumb thumb_width=200} A partnership of Dutch research institutes and industry consisting of SRON, TNO, NOVA/ASTRON and Philips will construct a demonstration model of the ‘immersed grating’ for METIS. METIS is an advanced infrared camera and spectrometer that will gain maximum benefit from the large corrective capacity of the planned European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), which …

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New trick for probing exoplanet atmospheres

{multithumb thumb_width=200}  For the first time a clever new technique now lets astronomers study  the atmosphere of an exoplanet in detail – even if it does not pass in front of its parent star. An international team with SRON-researcher Remco de Kok has used ESO’s Very Large Telescope to catch the faint glow from the planet …

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New Dutch technology for space instrumentation on SPIE

SRON, TNO, ASTRON and NOVA have joined forces to show their latest innovations and technologies in the field of instrumentation for astronomy. The venue is the SPIE Astronomy, Telescopes and Instrumentation technical exhibition, in Amsterdam RAI, 1 to 6 July. The participating companies will be happy to present and explain their innovations to visitors, especially …

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iSPEX through to final Academische Jaarprijs

Eigenaren van een smartphone kunnen binnenkort zelf bijdragen aan wetenschappelijk onderzoek naar fijnstof en andere aerosolen (kleine deeltjes) in de atmosfeer. Dit kan uiteindelijk leiden tot meer inzicht in onder andere klimaatverandering. Het instrument dat dit mogelijk maakt, iSPEX, dingt mee naar de Academische Jaarprijs en is door naar de finale. SRON is één van …

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