Science news
‘Beyond what we’d hoped’: international telescope in Australia captures first glimpse of the Universe
The first image from the international SKA Observatory’s telescope in Australia, SKA-Low, has been released – a significant milestone in its quest to reveal an unparalleled view of our Universe.
Astronomers Astonished: Enigmatic Distant Radio Bursts Appear to be Neutron Stars
Using the radio telescope at Westerbork, The Netherlands, astronomers have discovered two dozen of the unexplained Fast Radio Bursts. After zooming in on the signal of the distant bursts, the astronomers found a striking similarity to the radio flashes emitted by nearby, known neutron stars. The discovery is remarkable because these nearby neutron stars already produce more energy than anything achievable on Earth. The distant stars that emit the Fast Radio Bursts must somehow generate an astounding one billion times more energy than the nearby ones.
European Pulsar Timing Array Wins Two Prestigious Awards
The European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) has been honored with two major awards for its groundbreaking work in gravitational wave astronomy. In 2024, the team received the International Congress of Basic Sciences (ICBS) Frontiers of Science Award in China, followed by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) Group Achievement Award in the United Kingdom in 2025.These accolades celebrate the team’s innovative use of pulsar timing to detect low-frequency gravitational waves. The EPTA is a collaborative effort involving scientists from more than ten institutions across Europe. ASTRON is one of the participating organisations in this project with its most sensitive radio telescope including the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope. (WSRT).
European grant allows ASTRON astronomer Joe Callingham to study the space weather of other worlds
Dr Joe Callingham has received an ERC Starting Grant worth 1.5 million euros.
Astronomers discover ultra-fast radio bursts in archived data
An international team of researchers led by Dutch Ph.D. candidate Mark Snelders has discovered radio pulses that last only millionths of a second.
ERC Starting Grant Awarded to Dr. Aditya Parthasarathy
The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded Dr. Aditya Parthasarathy a prestigious and extremely competitive grant to pursue his research at ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy.
Radio waves leaking from large satellite constellations could jeopardize astronomical exploration
The LOFAR radio telescope has shown that satellites can unintentionally emit radio waves that interfere with the observations of radio telescopes. Satellites circle the globe in ever increasing numbers. Their radio emission could, if not addressed, close unique and scientifically valuable windows into the Universe. It is of crucial importance for the astronomy sector and industry to collaborate to overcome these issues and for the International Telecommunications Union to establish regulation to control this emission.
ASTRON involved in European consortium to develop next-gen technologies for radio astronomy infrastructures
The RADIOBLOCKS project has been granted 10 M€ by the European Commission to develop “common building blocks” for technological solutions beyond state-of-the-art, that will enable a broad range of new science and enhance European scientific competitiveness.
ERIS 2022 School inspires next generation of radio astronomers
Over 70 students from all over the world participated in the 9th European Radio Interferometry School (ERIS 2022) hosted by JIVE and ASTRON in Dwingeloo (the Netherlands) on 19-23 September 2022.
Volcanic ‘activity’ in black holes blows monumental bubbles spanning hundreds of thousands of light years
An international team of researchers, which included astronomers from the Netherlands Institutes for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON) and Space Research (SRON) as well as Leiden University, observed the full extent of the evolution of hot gas produced by an active black hole for the first time.
Periodic Fast Radio Burst found bare, unobscured by strong binary wind
By connecting two of the biggest radio telescopes in the world, astronomers have discovered that a simple binary wind cannot cause the puzzling periodicity of a Fast Radio Burst after all.
Most detailed-ever images of galaxies revealed using LOFAR
After almost a decade of work, an international team of astronomers has published the most detailed images yet seen of galaxies beyond our own, revealing their inner workings in unprecedented detail.