23-08-17 |
NASA selects X-ray mission Arcus for phase A study
This month NASA selected three missions for a phase A study for a Medium-Class Explorer Mission. One of these three missions is Arcus, an X-ray mission with significant Dutch contributions. If selected for launch Arcus will study hot gas in the universe, the launch mechanisms of black hole wind, and the impact of accretion on star formation. |
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31-07-17 |
Triomfen, kansen en projecten in Big Science bij SRON
Met je kleine kennisintensieve bedrijfje wetenschappelijke instellingen als SRON en ESA of NASA tot je opdrachtgevers gaan rekenen? Dat kan gebeuren wanneer je als technologiebedrijf een unieke mee-ontwikkelende partner bent voor wetenschappers, die op onontgonnen terrein werken. Het SRON-symposium Big Science with Small Companies afgelopen 5 juli ging daarover en belichtte de kansen en de concrete projecten bij SRON. |
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28-07-17 |
Ruisloze supergeleidende detectoren om buitenaards leven op te sporen
SRON-onderzoeker Pieter de Visser krijgt van de Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) een Veni-beurs van 250.000 euro voor de ontwikkeling van een nieuw type detector om exoplaneten te onderzoeken op onder meer de aanwezigheid van leven of de bouwstenen daarvoor. |
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20-07-17 |
Europese satelliet met Nederlands hart klaar voor lancering
De Europese satelliet Sentinel-5P, met in het hart het Nederlandse ruimte-instrument Tropomi, is klaar om gelanceerd te worden. Vanuit de ruimte gaat Tropomi met ongekende precisie wereldwijd de luchtkwaliteit en verspreiding van broeikasgassen in kaart brengen. Begin oktober brengt een Russische Rockot-raket de satelliet vanuit het Siberische Plesetsk in een baan rond de aarde. Vandaag was de Sentinel-5P voor het laatst zichtbaar in de cleanroom van Airbus UK in het Britse Stevenage, voordat hij ingepakt wordt voor transport naar de lanceerbasis. |
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12-07-17 |
SRON in startimpulsen voor wetenschapsagenda: 'Origins' en 'Zwaartekracht'
NWO heeft financiering toegekend aan acht onderzoeksvoorstellen uit de Nationale Wetenschapsagenda. Deze interdisciplinaire onderzoeksprogramma's krijgen ieder maximaal 2,5 miljoen euro. SRON is betrokken bij twee van deze voorstellen: Origins Center en Zwaartekracht - een nieuwe ontdekkingsreis. Deze onderzoeksprogramma's behoren tot twee 'routes' van de Nationale Wetenschapsagenda. |
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04-07-17 |
Symposium Fundamentals of Life in the Universe
Op 31 augustus en 1 september 2017 vindt op de Zernike Campus in Groningen het symposium 'Fundamentals of Life in the Universe' plaats. De tweedaagse conferentie over de oorsprong van het leven in het heelal verbindt uiteenlopende vakgebieden van planetaire evolutie tot het creëren van synthetische cellen. Naast een gevarieerd voordrachtenprogramma biedt de conferentie een avondlezing door Ben Feringa, Nobelprijswinnaar in de scheikunde van 2016, en een publiekslezing door Charley Lineweaver. De oorsprong van het leven, op aarde en elders, is een onderwerp van de Nationale Wetenschapsagenda (route 4) dat het publiek fascineert, en dat zeer geschikt is om verschillende disciplines samen te brengen. Met dit symposium en andere initiatieven zoals de oprichting van het Origins Center, geven diverse wetenschappelijke instituten waaronder SRON invulling aan de Nationale Wetenschapsagenda. |
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03-07-17 |
Women In Science Excel tenure tracks at NWO's research institutes - 2017 (4 fte)
The vacancy for four WISE tenure track positions at NWO’s research institutes is open for applications. NWO’s Women in Science Excel (WISE) tenure track programme provides talented female scientists with an opportunity to advance to a top position at one of NWO’s research institutes. The WISE programme offers: the unique opportunity to expand or develop your own research programme, the perspective of a tenured staff position at the NWO-institute of your choice within five years, and a generous start-up package. |
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29-06-17 |
Collaborating on the space detector for 'missing' matter
BEIJING/UTRECHT/GRONINGEN, 29 June 2017 – China and the Netherlands will work together with a view to a future Chinese space telescope for studying 'missing matter', suspected thin gas in the universe with a temperature of hundreds of millions of degrees. The renowned Tsinghua University in Beijing and SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research will study if detectors that are developed in Europe for a project of the European Space Agency ESA, is suitable for measuring radiation from such hot plasma. The two parties sealed the collaboration on Thursday in Beijing. |
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28-06-17 |
Dutch optical instrumentation parties join forces
UTRECHT, Wednesday June 28th - The Optical Instrumentation Network, one of the three knowledge networks of the NSO Instrument cluster, held its first meeting at SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research on Wednesday. Parties from the space instrumentation field in the Netherlands came together to discuss how the network partners can strengthen collaboration, how it can be extended to other relevant partners and what plans might emerge for joint projects. |
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26-06-17 |
New 1000-pixel space camera system now mature enough
Researchers from various institutions, including SRON and Delft University of Technology, have demonstrated that it is possible to make a highly sensitive space camera for far-infrared astronomy by using a special type of superconducting detector. Using 961 KID detectors they built a chip for such a camera, which satisfies astronomers’ strict requirements for reliability and sensitivity. Furthermore, the camera system is also made resistant to certain equipment-threatening circumstances in space like cosmic radiation. |
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20-06-17 |
ESA approves three scientific space missions
The European Space Agency ESA has given the green light for the development of three scientific space missions in which Dutch science and the Dutch space sector are playing an important role. These are the gravitational wave detector LISA, exoplanet telescope PLATO, and XARM, a recovery mission for the space telescope Hitomi that was lost in 2016 just a few weeks after its launch. |
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20-06-17 |
Green light given for building exoplanet telescope PLATO
The European Space Agency ESA has given the green light for the realisation of the space telescope PLATO, which will search for exoplanets from 2026 onwards. SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research will test and characterise 8 of the 26 cameras for PLATO. In addition, SRON will develop models that can extract information from PLATO's data about the atmosphere and clouds of such exoplanets. (Dutch follows) |
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15-06-17 |
Astronomers see mysterious nitrogen area in a butterfly-shaped star formation disk
An international team of astronomers, led by Dutch scientists, has discovered a region in our Milky Way that contains many nitrogen compounds in the southeast of a butterfly-shaped star formation disk and very little in the north-west. The astronomers suspect that multiple stars-to-be share the same star formation disk, but the precise process is still a puzzle. The article with their findings has been accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. |
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29-05-17 |
Chemical composition of largest objects in the universe unravelled
Where do the chemical elements that we are made up of come from? SRON researcher Francois Mernier investigated this during his PhD research by measuring the composition of huge hot gas clouds in space more accurately than ever before. On Wednesday 31 May, Mernier will defend his PhD thesis on the subject at Leiden University. |
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24-05-17 |
Symposium 5 juli: Big Science with Small Companies
Als midden- of kleinbedrijf samen met instituten werken aan wetenschap, hoe gaat dat? Wat zijn de ervaringen en waar liggen de kansen voor samenwerking? SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research nodigt high tech bedrijven graag uit voor het symposium Big Science with Small Companies op 5 juli 2017 in Utrecht. Interessante sprekers belichten mogelijkheden en ervaringen in samenwerken met instituten zoals SRON in wetenschappelijk gedreven projecten. Daarbij komen recente ervaringen met de ontwikkeling van hard- en software voor wetenschappelijke instrumenten aan bod. Ook zal SRON aanstippen waar interessante kansen liggen voor co-development. |
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24-05-17 |
Combined satellite data reveal effects aerosols
Aerosols – small particles in the atmosphere – can cool the Earth by reflecting sunlight back to space but also warm the Earth by absorbing sunlight. Researchers from SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center have combined different satellite measurements to determine to what extent aerosols reflect or absorb light, and therewith cool or warm the Earth. The study has been selected as Research Highlight by the American Geophysical Union. |
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23-05-17 |
Nice to see: XMM-Newton's by-catch
The XMM-Newton X-ray telescope, carrying two Reflection Grating Spectrometers developed by SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, was launched in 1999. It is orbiting earth since then. Its mission is to study high-energy phenomena in the Universe, such as black holes and neutron stars. When the telescope moves between specific target it stills collects scientific data (slews). This recent map shows 30,000 sources detected during 2114 of these slews. Some of the sources have been observed up to 15 times. After correcting for overlaps between slews, 84% of the sky has been covered. Lower energy sources are shown in red while higher energy sources are blue. The size of each source is proportional to its brightness. The centre of the plot corresponds to the centre of the Milky Way. Objects above and below the centre of the plane of our Galaxy are mostly external galaxies that are emitting X-rays from their massive black holes. |
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11-05-17 |
Flat 'pancake' connects two clusters of galaxies
The large cosmic web structure of matter has once again revealed a bit more of itself to researchers. Against expectations, it appears that the filament between the two big clusters of galaxies Abell 399 and Abell 401 is more like a flat pancake than a cylindrical thread. A sudden temperature transition also seems to indicate the 'edge' of this flat connection. Researcher Hiroki Akamatsu of SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research discovered this with fellow researchers in observations made by the Japanese X-ray satellite Suzaku. |
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11-05-17 |
TROPOMI will detect methane leakages from space
Atmospheric scientists at SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research will use the Dutch satellite instrument TROPOMI for the worldwide detection of methane leakages. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is released during the extraction of coal, oil and gas. A research proposal for this initiative by professor Ilse Aben of SRON has been awarded funding. Aben will receive just over half a million euros for the research with which she can appoint two researchers for a period of four years, among other things. |
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10-05-17 |
Behind the scenes: testing for X-IFU
SRON is one of the leading institutes in the development of the X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) for X-ray space telescope ATHENA, to be launched in 2028. X-IFU will be a 2-D imaging camera annex spectrograph that is cooled to sub-Kelvin level. The spectrograph will be able to produce a spectrum for each pixel of the captured image and derive the characteristics of gas as hot as 10 million degrees Kelvin. |
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