New space instrument can throw light on climate change on earth and the development of dust storms on Mars The Chinese Academy of Space Technology (CAST) and NWO-SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research signed a declaration of intent on Wednesday 11 May for long-term scientific and technical collaboration in research on planetary atmospheres. The collaboration …
Category: News items
Rebel electrons determine fundamental limit for space detectors
Jochem Baselmans and his group are develeping Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KIDs) Researchers from SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research and Delft University of Technology (TUD) have stumbled across a fundamental limit for superconductors in space detectors and quantum computers. During their research on a superconducting aluminium film, the researchers observed a phenomenon that contradicts the …
Herschel links star formation to sonic booms
ESA’s Herschel space observatory has revealed that nearby interstellar clouds contain networks of tangled gaseous filaments. Intriguingly, each filament is approximately the same width, hinting that they may result from interstellar sonic booms throughout our Galaxy. Dense filaments of gas in the IC5146 interstellar cloud. This image was taken by ESA?s Herschel space observatory at …
New SRON cryostat simulates space conditions
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research gaat met financiële steun van onderzoeksfinancier NWO een ruimtesimulator ontwikkelen. In de simulator – die de duisternis en de extreem lage temperaturen in het heelal nabootst – wil het ruimteonderzoeksinstituut zijn ruimte-instrumenten aan intensieve tests gaan onderwerpen. De eerste kandidaat is de infraroodspectrometer SAFARI, het toekomstige Europese zenuwcentrum van …
The Infrared Connection: from HIFI to SAFARI
Metingen in de eerste helft van 2010 door SRON’s moleculenjager HIFI – een van de drie instrumenten aan boord van ESA’s ruimtetelescoop Herschel – hebben geleid tot meer dan vijftig wetenschappelijke publicaties. Om dat te vieren overhandigt SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research op 8 maart a.s. een speciaal editie van het Europese tijdschrift Astronomy …
China wants SPEX for Mars mission
The China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) has expressed serious interest in the SPEX instrument, the spectropolarimeter currently under development at SRON in collaboration with the Astronomical Institute Utrecht and other Dutch partners. SPEX would become part of the first Mars mission that is being developed completely under Chinese leadership. SPEX (Spectropolarimeter for Planetary EXploration) …
HIFI recovered from cosmic ray hit
HIFI, one of the three scientific instruments on ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory, has taken a hit by a cosmic ray particle in a critical area again. On Monday 28 February a particle presumably hit the electronics of the instrument, which brought HIFI observations to a full stop. However, after switching HIFI off and then on …
Henk van der Linden on 1 March division head LEA
Ir. Henk van der Linden will officially become Head of LEA Division on 1 March. Henk van der Linden will officially become Head of LEA Division on 1 March. He has held this position on an interim basis for more than a year in addition to being Head of the ED. In view of the …
Immersed gratings candidate for Extremely Large Telescope
SRON’s ‘immersed gratings’ are a candidate for use in the European Extremely Large Telescope. An SRON-led Dutch consortium – that also includes TNO, NOVA/Astron and Philips – will study if the technology can also be used for METIS, one of the eight planned instruments behind the telescope’s enormous mirror. The grating for METIS must be …
SRON supplies groundbreaking technology for European environmental satellite
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research will supply essential hardware for the infrared module of TROPOMI, the instrument onboard the European environmental satellite Sentinel-5 precursor, which shall monitor air pollution in the troposphere and climate change on earth, for example. On 9 December 2010, SRON concluded an agreement with the British space company Surrey Satellite …
