Join us for the SRON open days 2023

Will you too step into the world of space research with SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research in October? We’re organising educational open days. On Sunday 1 October in Groningen (together with Kapteyn Institute) and on Saturday 7 October in Leiden.

What do we do? With cameras in space, we look up at stars, planets and black holes. This is how we learn how they work. And from above, we also look down at the sky on our own planet Earth. This is how we see what happens to the climate. We make these cameras at SRON, together with researchers from other countries.

What can our space cameras do? With our cameras in space, you can capture light that you cannot capture well enough from Earth. The air mixture and clouds around the earth get in the way.
We want to catch special kinds of light, which our eyes cannot see well. For example, X-ray light, which the doctor can also use to take a picture of your bones or teeth. Or infrared light, with which you can see hot and cold very well.
Some space cameras make pictures. There are also cameras that can tell from fingerprints in the light how hot the stardust in the universe is. Or where it is flying and whether it is coalescing or exploding.

What will you learn on the open day? On the open day, we show how we do our research and how we first devise, test, and improve new sensitive detectors on Earth, and eventually make them suitable as cameras in space.

So join us for fun lab tests, demonstrations and lectures. Visitors of any age can come and learn a lot. What would you look like, seen through a thermal camera? Can you solder electronics in our lab? Is there life on other planets? How do you chase greenhouse gases moving through our skies? Come and find out in Leiden and/or Groningen.

Click the comic and enter the word ‘Strip’ to download it (in Dutch).

Groningen, Sunday October 1st
Kapteynborg building, Landleven 12, Zernike Campus Groningen.
In Groningen, our open day is part of science festival Zpannend Zernike.
Check www.zpannendzernike.nl in due course and click on ‘Space research’.

Leiden, Saturday October 7th,
SRON building, Niels Bohrweg 4, Bio Science Park Leiden.
(Parking is available for 2 euro per hour in the Ehrenfestgarage on the Ehrenfestweg)
In Leiden, our open day is part of Space Week and Weekend van de Wetenschap

Download the programme for October 7th here (answer: Programma).