Na lang wachten op mooi weer is het eindelijk zover: duizenden Nederlanders gaan met behulp van het iSPEX-opzetstukje op hun smartphone-camera metingen verrichten aan fijnstof in de lucht. Voor het wetenschappelijke experiment is boven heel Nederland een grotendeels blauwe lucht noodzakelijk, en dat is vandaag het geval. Alle 10.000 iSPEX-opzetstukjes zijn verspreid, maar omdat in …
Our Milky Way contains much more building blocks for stars than known before
{multithumb thumb_width=200} The stuff of stars is not always easy to see. But thanks to the Dutch Molecule Hunter HIFI hidden pools of gas in our galaxy are being mapped better than before. Astronomers found that our Milky Way is equipped with a lot more raw building blocks for stars than known before. This illustration …
Neutron stars as space laboratories
In de week van 6-10 mei komen sterrenkundigen uit de hele wereld samen in Amsterdam voor een symposium over neutronensterren. In debatcentrum Felix Meritis bespreken zij de jongste resultaten van het onderzoek aan neutronensterren, ineengestorte kernen van reuzensterren die als supernova’s zijn geëxplodeerd. Vanwege hun extreem samengebalde materie kunnen neutronensterren uitstekend dienen als laboratoria om …
End of mission for Dutch molecule hunter in space
HIFI opened up new window on Molecular Universe Today, after more than 3,5 years in space, the liquid helium coolant on board the Herschel space observatory (ESA) has finally run out. This means that the Dutch molecule hunter HIFI – one of its three instruments – has ceased to collect spectra. But the scientific heritage …
Herschel-HIFI links Jupiter’s water to comet impact
ESA’s Herschel space observatory has solved a long-standing mystery as to the origin of water in the upper atmosphere of Jupiter, finding conclusive evidence that it was delivered by the dramatic impact of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 in July 1994. Water in Jupiter’s atmosphere. During the spectacular week-long collision, a string of 21 comet fragments pounded …
Thousands of citizens have enlisted for the national iSPEX Measurement Day
Op een zonnige dag tussen medio mei en eind juni gaat Nederland massaal met behulp van het iSPEX-opzetstukje op de smartphone-camera metingen verrichten aan fijnstof in de lucht. Sinds februari van dit jaar hebben al duizenden Nederlanders zich aangemeld voor deelname aan de landelijke iSPEX-meetdag. De productie van 10.000 opzetstukjes is in volle gang; ze …
Succesful space telescope about to take its last breath
ESA’s Herschel space observatory is expected to exhaust its supply of liquid helium coolant in the coming weeks after spending more than three exciting years studying the cool Universe. Herschel was launched on 14 May 2009 and, with a main mirror 3.5 m across, it is the largest, most powerful infrared telescope ever flown in …
ISPEX project officially started – registration for participation open
iSPEX1 The registration for the great citizen science project iSPEX, “Measuring aerosols with your smartphone”, is open. From today you can order an add-on for you smartphone, to change this everyday tool into a scientific instrument. Anyone with an iSPEX add-on can participate to the large measurement day scheduled for late spring. Please click here …
New type of telescope can possibly discover extraterrestrial life
A team of Dutch astronomers has shown that with a new type of telescope it might be possible to find signs of extraterrestrial life within the next 25 years. Certain gases exhaled by organisms can, in principle, be observed in the atmospheres of exoplanets – planets orbiting stars other than our sun. This idea, which …