Every year SURF organizes its Research Support Championship Awards to give a platform to innovators of research support. This way they can increase their impact and reach and inspire others. SURF is a cooperation of Dutch educational and research institutions. This year, Jelle de Plaa (SRON) receives this award at the SURF Research Day.
Month: May 2024
NWO grant for studying life cycle of stars and planets with GUSTO
SRON astronomer Floris van der Tak has received an ENW-M1 grant from NWO to study the life cycle of stars and planets. Together with a PhD student, he will study the presence of carbon and nitrogen in tenuous gas clouds—the precursors of baby stars. They will analyze data from the recently conducted balloon mission GUSTO, for which SRON developed the cameras.
NWO grant for detection of single photons from exoplanets
SRON researcher Pieter de Visser has received an ENW-M1 grant from NWO to develop detectors that catch individual light particles from planets outside our solar system. Planets mainly emit low-energy light, such as infrared radiation, which is particularly difficult to detect. De Visser is developing his MKID detectors for infrared wavelengths with ESA’s candidate space mission LIFE in mind.
Webb data show hints of atmosphere around rocky exoplanet
Astronomers have discovered possible atmospheric gases on 55 Cancri e, a hot rocky exoplanet at 41 light years from Earth. This is the best evidence yet for an atmosphere around a rocky planet outside our solar system. Gas bubbling up from a lava-covered surface possibly feeds an atmosphere rich in carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide. The researchers, including astronomers from SRON and Leiden Observatory, publish their findings in Nature.
