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NEWS

New calibration technique circumvents Earth’s ionosphere

An international team of researchers has developed a new calibration technique to circumvent disturbances of Earth’s ionosphere.

Astronomy
LOFAR
News
telescopes
Published by the editorial team, 6 May 2024

ASTRON has turned 75!

75 years ago today, SRZM (Stichting Radiostraling van Zon en Melkweg/Netherlands Foundation for Radio Astronomy) was founded. This organization would later become ASTRON.

News
Published by the editorial team, 23 April 2024

ASTRON launches database of female experts

Today marks International Women’s Day. This year’s theme is ‘Inspire Inclusion’.

News
Published by the editorial team, 8 March 2024

LOFAR ERIC: Distributed Research Infrastructure for European Astronomical Research Launched

LOFAR ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium) has been officially launched at its first Council meeting today. The world-leading LOFAR (LOw Frequency ARray) Distributed Research Infrastructure has already revolutionised low-frequency radio astronomy research, resulting in an avalanche of scientific publications in the past decade. LOFAR ERIC is now a single legal entity across the European Union. The LOFAR ERIC statutory seat is in Dwingeloo, the Netherlands, hosted by NWO-I/ASTRON (Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy; the original designer of LOFAR).

LOFAR
News
Published by the editorial team, 22 January 2024

Telescope quartet reveals surprising statistics of cosmic flashes

Scientists led by Chalmers astronomer Franz Kirsten have studied a famous source of repeating fast radio bursts – a still unexplained cosmic phenomenon. Comparing with earlier measurements, the scientists draw a conclusion with far-reaching consequences: any source of fast radio bursts will repeat, if watched long enough and carefully enough. The research team, a unique collaboration between professional and amateur radio astronomers, used four telescopes in northern Europe, amongst which ASTRON’s Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope.

Astronomy
News
telescopes
WSRT-APERTIF
Published by the editorial team, 4 January 2024

Dutch astronomers prove last piece of gas feedback-feeding loop of black hole

Three astronomers from the Netherlands have proven that gas that was previously heated near a supermassive black hole and flowed to the outskirts of the galaxy and cooled down, is moving back towards the black hole. While there had been indirect evidence for this theory, this is the first time that the cooled gas moving toward the black hole has actually been observed.

Astronomy
News
Published by the editorial team, 7 December 2023
EVENTS

Open Dag: 6 oktober/Open Day: October 6th

Sun 06 Oct 2024

English follows Dutch   Bezoek ons tijdens onze open dag op 6 oktober Hoe klinkt een dode ster? Hoe maak je onzichtbaar licht zichtbaar? Hoe werkt een zwart gat? Waarom kun je met een radiotelescoop terug in de tijd kijken? Achter al deze en nog veel meer interessante dingen kom je tijdens onze open dag […]

Toegepaste RF-techniek

Mon 04 Nov 2024 - Thu 07 Nov 2024

De cursus Toegepaste RF-techniek bestaat uit een theoriegedeelte (75%) en hands-on sessies in ons eigen lab (25%).
Deelnemers aan deze cursus dienen een hbo werk- en denkniveau te hebben. De deelnemer kent de basisbegrippen van elektronica. Parate kennis van wiskundige concepten is niet vereist, maar komt wel aan de orde bij de transmissielijntheorie. In de cursus wordt ook complexe rekenwijze toegepast.

DAILY IMAGE
A special lens for Jekels Jacht

© NTR/Rik ter horst

In his program 'Jekels Jacht', Diederik Jekel revisits significant experiments from our rich scientific history, recreating them to highlight their importance and impact. In the episode airing on May 15, Jekel focuses on the Nobel Prize-winning Phase Contrast Microscope. This groundbreaking microscope was invented by physicist Frits Zernike in 1933 and constructed by Caroline Bleeker, a highly skilled Dutch instrument maker.

The Phase Contrast Microscope revolutionized the way scientists observe transparent specimens, allowing them to see details without staining or killing the samples. Zernike's invention profoundly impacted biological and medical research, earning him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1953.

In this episode, Diederik Jekel undertakes the challenge of creating a precise replica of Zernike's microscope. Elfi Dijkstra and Rik ter Horst (NOVA) contributed their expertise by crafting a special lens and lens mount, critical components for the accurate reproduction of the original instrument.

Curious to see if the efforts were successful? Watch the entire episode and witness the recreation of this pivotal scientific tool.

The full program can be viewed here:

https://npo.nl/start/serie/jekels-jacht/seizoen-2/jekels-jacht_2/afspelen

@astron

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