21-06-10 |
Extreme gravity effects revealed by oxygen for the first time
Astronomers from SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research 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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21-06-10 |
New directorate at space research institute SRON
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research will have a new directorate effective July 1st, 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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10-06-10 |
31-05-10 |
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. 85% of the NEAs with diameters larger than 1000 m are known to date; of the potentially hazardous smaller ones, down to 25 m, only 1% is chartered. |
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10-05-10 |
Astronomers find recoiling super-massive black hole
In a distant remote galaxy, astronomers have possibly found a super-massive black hole that is recoiling out of the galaxy at high speed. The black hole, visible with X-rays as a clear star, is not located as normal in the centre of the galaxy. Recoiling black holes are interesting because they provide insights into how super-massive black holes develop in the centre of galaxies. |
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06-05-10 |
HIFI on the trail of new water in the Universe
HIFI's quest for water sheds new light on the birth of stars in different regions of the Universe. This much became clear at The First Results Symposium of the Herschel space telecope, with onboard the Dutch space instrument HIFI. With HIFI scientist discovered ionised water for the first time in space. These electrically charged water molecules do not exist on Earth. |
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29-04-10 |
Herschel First Results Media Day
Media representatives are cordially invited to celebrate the release of the first results from ESA’s Herschel infrared space telescope. The theme of the media day is: Revealing the Hidden Side of Star Formation. |
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15-04-10 |
The Netherlands and Japan decide on cooperation in space science
The Netherlands and Japan have decided to cooperate in the development and application of new space science. That was the gist also of an earlier agreement in 2009 between the Japanese space agency JAXA and SRON, but now also the Netherlands Space Office (NSO) and JAXA have signed an agreement in Tokyo. It was signed in the presence of Maria van der Hoeven, Secretary of Economic Affairs. |
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02-04-10 |
Stars mesmerize visitors of Star Weekend at NEMO
Stars mesmerize visitors of NEMO during the Star Weekend on april 10th and 11th. Young and old can enjoy a 'heavenly' programme with special lectures and workshops for children, such as 'What is a Black Hole?'and 'Build your own Spectrometer'. Or participate in the Google Earth Quiz and look through the 'Nutty Viewer', and win some nice prizes. |
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04-03-10 |
Herschel-HIFI unveils precursors of life-enabling molecules in Orion Nebula
ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory has revealed the chemical fingerprints of potential life-enabling organic molecules in the Orion Nebula, a nearby stellar nursery in our Milky Way galaxy. This detailed-spectrum, obtained with the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared (HIFI) - one of Herschel's three innovative instruments - demonstrates the gold mine of information that Herschel-HIFI will provide on how organic molecules form in space. |
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19-02-10 |
International Conference: ten years of X-ray astronomy using Dutch gratings
From March 15 to 17, 2010, Utrecht is the center of X-ray astronomy. More than one hundred astronomers from all over the world will discuss the hottest objects in the universe. The conference is organized by SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research and Utrecht University. There will be a lot of attention for the results that were obtained with the Dutch instruments aboard XMM-Newton and Chandra in the last ten years. |
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16-02-10 |
New insight in ozone chemistry above North Pole
A flight of the balloon instrument TELIS has provided new insight into the chemistry of ozone above the North Pole, where the depletion of ozone is much more complex than above the South Pole. We now know more about ozone depleting substances in the stratosphere, such as the elusive but very agressive bromine oxide and chloride oxides which form under the influence of sunlight. |
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14-01-10 |
HIFI resumes quest for water in Universe
The back up system of HIFI, the state of the art Dutch space instrument on ESA's Herschel space telescope, has been switched on successfully. Due to an unexpected voltage peak in the electronic system HIFI has been inactive for more than 160 days, but on Thursday evening 14 January Mission Control in Darmstadt confirmed that HIFI is now fully capable of performing groundbreaking observations in space again. The coming three years HIFI, built under the supervision of SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, will investigate the physics and chemistry of interstellar clouds of gas and dust. The infrared spectrometer will chart the amount of carbon and water in these gas clouds, which is expected to shed new light on the birth and early development of stars and planets. |
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14-01-10 |
Higher temperatures also a cause of climate change
Higher temperatures on the earth’s surface at higher latitudes cause an increase in the emission of methane, a greenhouse gas that plays an important role in global warming. Therefore higher temperatures are not just a consequence of climate change but also a cause of it, conclude climate researchers in an article published this week in Science. During their research, the researchers made use of the methane concentrations determined by SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research on the basis of measurements from the Dutch-German space instrument SCIAMACHY (on board ESA's environmental satellite Envisat). |
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07-01-10 |
23-12-09 |
Back-up system HIFI passes first tests
The researchers responsible for the switch-on of HIFI can enjoy a peaceful Christmas Holiday: the back-up stystem of HIFI has passed the first tests. In order to be able to be back in business in January 2010 the electronic modules of HIFI's back-up system are tested one by one. The past few weeks this was done with the ICU en FCU modules. Both functioned perfectly. This is a major step back to switch on, and getting the HIFI science to flow again in January. |
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21-12-09 |
Utrecht University and SRON strengthen cooperation in space science
Utrecht University and SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research have signed an agreement on cooperation in the fields of astrophysics and Earth and planetary science. The institues have been cooperating for years, but now tangible commitments have been made regarding joint research programmes. SRON will also contribute to the education activities of the Faculty of Science of Utrecht University. |
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10-12-09 |
10 years XMM-Newton: a new view of the universe
ESA's XMM-Newton, the most sensitive X-ray telescope ever launched, celebrates its tenth year in space on 10 December 2009. With the help of a hypersensitive reflection grating spectrometer developed by SRON, the telescope has dramatically changed our view of the most extreme parts of the universe. |
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07-12-09 |
Distance to black hole no longer a secret
An international team of astronomers has accurately measured the distance from Earth to a black hole for the first time. Without needing to rely on mathematical models the astronomers came up with a distance of 7800 light years, much closer than had been assumed until now. The researchers achieved this breakthrough by measuring the radio emissions from the black hole and its associated dying star. Due to the much lower error margin ( |
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01-12-09 |
Herschel spectroscopy: update
In november Herschel has been carrying out performance verification phase (PVP) observations using the PACS and SPIRE spectrometers. A Herschel update by ESA provides some fine examples of observational results for a variety of astronomical objects. Spectra from HIFI – fully operational again in january 2010 – have determined the presence of organic molecules in massive star forming regions in our own galaxy (Orion nebula and DR21). HIFI also revealed a strong water line for the comet Garradd. For a complete update see the ESA log on |
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