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 …
Rens Waters comments on NASA discovery
At the request of the Dutch NOS News Channel, SRON-director Rens Waters on december 1st commented on the announced discovery of NASA. NASA will give a press conference later this day, but the news is already out on the street. Scientists have discoverd a new lifeform on Earth: bacteria which suggest that life can also exist …
Exoplanetary atmospheres unmasked
SRON researcher Dr Remco de Kok will use a Veni grant from NWO to investigate the atmospheres of exoplanets. De Kok has received 250,000 euro to develop a more accurate algorithm for determining the composition of planetary atmospheres. The first exoplanet (planet outside our solar system) was discovered in 1995 and now almost 500 such …
Peter Roelfsema PI for SAFARI
SRON scientist dr. Peter Roelfsema has been appointed Principal Investigator for SAFARI, the European space instrument proposed for the Japanese space telescope SPICA, with a planned launch date in 2018. SAFARI will be a far-Infrared imaging spectrometer exploiting the sensitivity of the SPICA telescope, which will hunt for frozen water in protoplanetary systems. As Principal …
Master students come up with new insight into protoplanetary disks
Onderzoek van twee masterstudenten van het Sterrenkundig Instituut Anton Pannekoek van de Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA) heeft een nieuwe kijk opgeleverd op de structuur van de gas- en stofschijf rondom een zogeheten Herbig Be-ster. De metingen van de studenten – die werden begeleid door prof. dr. Rens Waters – hebben geleid tot een artikel in …
Open Day at SRON: How to observe exoplanets?
Op 10 en 17 oktober zet SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research de deuren weer open voor het publiek. Op de open dagen in Utrecht (10 okt.) en Groningen (17 okt.) komt de bezoeker via presentaties, demonstraties, lezingen en films veel te weten over de nieuwste ontwikkelingen in het ruimteonderzoek, waaronder de speurtocht naar planeten …
SRON launches space classes in Sonnenborgh museum & observatory
In het schooljaar 2010-2011 verzorgen onderzoekers van SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research elke laatste donderdag van de maand ‘space classes’ in Sonnenborgh museum & sterrenwacht (Utrecht). Deze master classes voor de bovenbouw van het VWO bestrijken de volle breedte van het fascinerende onderzoek vanuit de ruimte. Begin oktober – in de World Space Week …
