In the afternoon of May 27th, Prof. Kees de Jager has passed away at the age of 100 in his place of birth Den Burg, Texel. As a pioneer of Dutch space research he co-founded one of the predecessors of SRON and as a prominent astronomer he led the Sonnenborgh observatory for a long time. De Jager continued to publish scientific articles and popularize science until just before his death.
Month: May 2021
A New Window to the Hidden Side of the Magnetized Universe
New observations and simulations show that jets of high-speed particles emitted by supermassive black holes can be used to map the structure of invisible inter-cluster magnetic fields. These findings provide astronomers with a new tool for investigating previously unexplored aspects of clusters of galaxies. Publication in Nature on May 5th.
New model can predict carbon cycle presence on exoplanets
Life thrives at stable temperatures. On Earth, this is facilitated by the carbon cycle. Scientists at SRON, VU and RUG have now developed a model that predicts whether there is a carbon cycle present on exoplanets, provided the mass, core size and amount of CO2 are known. Publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics on May 3rd.
