Jelle Kaastra professor at Leiden University

Today 3 November SRON researcher Jelle Kaastra delivered his inaugural speech as professor at Leiden University. Kaastra – who is appointed professor High Energy Astrophysics at Leiden – gave in his speech an overview of X-ray diagnostics in space. Jelle kaastra Click here to read Kaastra’s acceptance speech (in Dutch).

Citizen science network produces accurate maps of atmospheric dust

Measurements by thousands of citizen scientists in the Netherlands using their smartphones and the iSPEX add-on are delivering accurate data on dust particles in the atmosphere that add valuable information to professional measurements. The iSPEX team, led by Frans Snik of Leiden University, analyzed all measurements from three days in 2013 and combined them into …

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Magnetic field of accretion disk finally captured

For the first time astronomers have been able to capture the magnetic field in the accretion disk around a young star. The shape of the field was a big surprise. The discovery suggests that magnetic fields play an important role in forming a planetary system like our own, but that the process is more complicated …

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Record number of visitors at SRON Open Day

De Open Dag van SRON op zondag 5 oktober was een groot succes: maar liefst 1300 bezoekers brachten een bezoek aan de locaties Utrecht of Groningen. Bezoekers toonden zich erg enthousiast en onder de indruk van de activiteiten van SRON. In het kader van het Weekend van de Wetenschap opende SRON op 5 oktober 2014 …

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Athena Industry Day

Athena is de volgende grote rontgenmissie (2028) van de Europese ruimtevaartorganisatie ESA. De ruimtetelescoop wordt o.a. uitgerust met detectoren van SRON. Op vrijdag 7 november vindt de Athena-industriedag plaats. Belangstellenden kunnen zich nu aanmelden. Artist impression van de ruimtetelescoop Athena Voorlopig programma: 10: 00 Athena: wetenschappelijke doelen 10: 30 Athena: overzicht, kansen voor industrie 12: …

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Mysterious cloud on Titan made of hydrogen cyanide

Since 2012, an enormous cloud is floating high above the South Pole of Titan, a large moon of Saturn. Astronomers have now discovered that this cloud consists of extremely toxic hydrogen cyanide ice. The ice has probably formed after a rapid cooling of the atmosphere. The results have this week been published in Nature. On …

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Smell, see and hear the universe

Altijd al willen weten hoe ruimte-instrumenten er uitzien en hoe deze worden gemaakt? Kom op 5 oktober in Utrecht of Groningen naar de Open Dag van ruimteonderzoeksinstituut SRON en dompel je onder in de wereld van het ruimteonderzoek. SRON is te bezoeken tussen 12.00 en 17.00 uur. SRON is het nationale expertise-instituut voor ruimteonderzoek in …

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First Dutch contribution to giant telescope E-ELT passes all tests

De eerste Nederlandse bijdrage aan de toekomstige European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) is succesvol getest. Het gaat om de ‘chopper’, een zeer wendbaar spiegeltje dat is ontwikkeld door een samenwerkingsverband van universiteiten, technologische instituten en het bedrijfsleven. Het high tech spiegeltje is een essentieel onderdeel van METIS, de mid-infraroodcamera annex spectrograaf van de reuzentelescoop. The …

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Thermonuclear X-ray bursts on neutron stars set speed record

A new study of thermonuclear X-ray bursts on neutron stars reveals that, on very rare occasions, shells can be expelled at relativistic speeds – up to 30% of the speed of light. These velocities are the highest ever measured for a cosmic thermonuclear event, including novae and thermonuclear supernovae. This phenomenon, discovered in only 0.1 …

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Chandra and LETG celebrate 15th anniversary

Fifteen years ago, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched into space aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. Since its deployment on July 23, 1999, Chandra has helped revolutionize our understanding of the universe through its unrivalled X-ray vision. SRON provided the Low Energy Transmission Grating (LETG) for Chandra in collaboration with the Max Planck Institut für …

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