24 Jun 2010
VLT Detects First Superstorm on Exoplanet (ESO)
VLT detects first superstorm on exoplanet
Astronomers have measured a superstorm for the first time in the atmosphere of an exoplanet, the well-studied 'hot Jupiter' HD209458b. The very high-precision observations of carbon monoxide gas show that it is streaming at enormous speed from the extremely hot day side to the cooler night side of the planet. The observations also allow another exciting 'first' — measuring the orbital speed of the exoplanet itself, providing a direct determination of its mass.
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21 Jun 2010
Neutron star 'eats' oxygen-rich white dwarf in a peculiar binary system.
Extreme gravity effects revealed by oxygen for the first time
Astronomers from SRON and Utrecht University have found blurred oxygen signatures in the X-rays from a neutron star that 'eats' a white dwarf. For the first time the effects of extreme gravity are revealed by oxygen instead of iron atoms.
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20 Jun 2010
Prof. dr. Rens Waters will become Science Director of SRON.
New directorate at space research institute SRON

SRON will have a new directorate effective July 1, 2010. Professor of Astronomy Rens Waters (University of Amsterdam) will become the Science Director on this date and he will also assume the position of General Director. In that capacity he also bears the final responsibility for the institute. Dr Roel Gathier, currently acting General Director of SRON, will become the Managing Director and Deputy General Director.

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31 May 2010
Asteroid 243 IDA and the moon Dactyl. The size of the asteroid is 54 x 24 x 14 km, it's mass 4.2 x 105 megatons (observed by NASA's Galileo Spacecraft, at a distance of 10 500 km)
Most of the potentially hazardous asteroids not yet known
A new web page offers an overview of known Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs) which may have close encounters with the Earth in the next 200 years. NEAs present a clear and present danger to the world's population. Once every 200 years a medium-sized NEA (diameter 40-1000 m) hits the Earth and causes serious local damage. Once every 2 million years a NEA, comparable in size with the one which terminated the era of the dinosaurs, impacts and causes fatal global damage.
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Vacancy:
Electronic engineer


Space classes
Space research for students


9 October 2010:
Conference
Planetary atmospheres



10&17 October 2010
open house SRON

New:
Annual report 2009

Folder:
ASIC technology

Newsletter:
SRON Spectrum 13