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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23-11-09 |
Herschel in TIME's top ten
The Herschel space telescope ranks among the top ten of TIME's Best Inventions of 2009, the magazine's picks for the best new gadgets and breakthrough ideas of the year. The 'Telescope for the Invisible Stars' ranks 7th. |
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19-11-09 |
02-11-09 |
Space capsules in Utrecht
De tentoonstelling 'Ruimtevaart in Nederland' laat de bezoekers ervaren wat de ruimtevaart betekent voor ons dagelijks leven. Op initiatief van SRON en de Universiteit Utrecht is de rondreizende expositie tot en met 25 november te bezoeken bij de Universiteit Utrecht. 'Ruimtevaart in Nederland' bestaat uit drie ruimtecapsules met veel korte films over de Nederlandse ruimtevaart. |
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28-10-09 |
SRON and JAXA agree on cooperation in space science
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have agreed on a long term cooperation in the field of space science. As a first step SRON will contribute to the ASTRO-H mission, the Japanese X-Ray astronomy mission to study large-scale structures of the Universe, extreme conditions of the Universe near black holes, acceleration of cosmic rays to very high energies and dark matter among other things. SRON will participate in the Soft X-ray Spectrometer of ASTRO-H, which will allow imaging of clusters of galaxies and supernova remnants with unprecedented spectral resolution. SRON is also leading the preparation for SAFARI, the European far-infrared imaging spectrometer which is proposed for the Japanese future infrared astronomical observatory mission, SPICA. |
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26-10-09 |
Consistent failure scenario for HIFI
The international team that investigates the problems with the Dutch space instrument HIFI on board the ESA space telescope Herschel has arrived at a complete and consistent failure scenario. A "chain of events" resulted in an overload in one of the power converters of the Local Oscillator Control Unit (LCU), which controls the signal artificially generated within the instrument, causing a permanent failure of one of the diodes. |
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