SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research develops instruments for spacecraft and conducts research in astronomy and earth science. SRON is the main institute for Dutch contributions to the scientific payload of missions in the mandatory ESA Science Programme. As national expertise institute of The Netherlands, SRON gives counsel to the Dutch government and coordinates - from a science standpoint - national contributions to international space missions.
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SRON-astronomers have found the signature for aluminum oxide (AlO) in the spectrum of exoplanet WASP-43b. This came as a surprise because AlO is expected to stay hidden in the lower atmospheric layers. It is only the second ...
Astronomy
Jul 1, 2020
2
4086
An international team of astronomers, led by Yamila Miguel (SRON/Leiden Observatory), has found that Jupiter's gaseous envelope doesn't have a homogeneous distribution. The inner part has more metals than the outer parts, ...
Astronomy
Jun 8, 2022
0
4037
Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) play a major role in galaxy evolution. Astronomers from SRON and RuG have now used a record-setting sample of galaxies to confirm that galaxy mergers have a positive effect on igniting AGNs. ...
Astronomy
May 29, 2020
6
501
When two galaxies merge, there are brief periods of stellar baby booms. A group of astronomers led by Lingyu Wang (SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research) has now used a sample of over 200,000 galaxies to confirm that ...
Astronomy
Oct 21, 2019
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1310
Our telescopes have never detected a black hole more massive than 20 times the mass of the sun. Nevertheless, we now know of their existence as dozens of those black holes have recently been "heard" to merge via gravitational ...
Astronomy
Nov 9, 2021
6
1285
For decades astronomers have been spotting bursts of electromagnetic radiation coming from black holes. They assumed those are the result of stars being torn apart, but they have never seen the silhouette of the actual material ...
Astronomy
Apr 23, 2021
4
1634
One of the properties that make a planet suitable for life is the presence of a weather system. Exoplanets are too far away to directly observe this, but astronomers can search for substances in the atmosphere that make a ...
Astronomy
Feb 3, 2021
0
431
Astronomy has a blind spot in the area of far-infrared radiation compared to most other wavelengths. A far-infrared space telescope can only utilize its full sensitivity with an actively cooled mirror at temperatures below ...
Astronomy
Sep 6, 2022
0
484
When a black hole chews up a star, it produces visible light or X-rays, but astronomers have almost never detected both types of radiation. Astronomer Peter Jonker (SRON / Radboud University) and his colleagues have now spotted ...
Astronomy
Feb 6, 2020
15
707
Methane is almost thirty times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than CO2. Researchers from SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research therefore scan the entire globe for large methane leaks. A landfill in Buenos Aires ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 10, 2022
0
192
