News Overview
NWO condemns acts of war in Ukraine – prepares measures
The Dutch Research Council (ASTRON is part of its institutes organisation) is shocked by the invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine. The news and images of the past few days have made it clear that a peace-loving and free country is being ruthlessly occupied by an aggressive foreign power. NWO empathises with the Ukrainian people in general and its Ukrainian employees and employees with Ukrainian family and friends in particular, and wishes to declare its solidarity with them.
Flurry of new discoveries as incredible new image revealing 4.4 million galaxies is made public
Over a seven year period an international team of scientists has mapped more than a quarter of the northern sky using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), a pan-European radio telescope. It reveals an astonishingly detailed radio image of more than 4.4 million objects and a very dynamic picture of our Universe.
Cosmic flashes discovered in a surprising location in space
Astronomers have observed mysterious flashes in the sky from an unexpected source, a globular cluster in the galaxy M81.
Astronomers find largest radio galaxy ever
By a stroke of luck, a team led by Dutch PhD student Martijn Oei has discovered a radio galaxy of at least 16 million light-years long.
Gigapixel radio image of the Universe using Europe as a radio telescope
An international team of astronomers has created one of the largest and most detailed radio maps at megahertz frequencies thanks to Dutch supercomputers. This research, led by Frits Sweijen at Leiden University, has been published in Nature Astronomy on Thursday.
Two ERC Starting Grants awarded to (space) weather research projects with the LOFAR radio telescope
The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded two of its prestigious Starting Grants to ASTRON scientists for research projects using the LOFAR radio telescope. One project will use LOFAR to create detailed images of lightning on Earth, the other aims to detect space weather events and magnetic fields around exoplanets.
Jessica Dempsey appointed director of ASTRON
The board of the Dutch Research Council’s institute organisation has appointed Dr Jessica Dempsey as director of ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy.
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.
Inheemse blik op de hemel in Leiden tentoongesteld
Op zaterdag 16 oktober opent de bijzondere tentoonstelling Onder onze hemel (origineel Shared Sky), een culturele blik op de sterrenhemel door Aboriginal Australische en Zuid-Afrikaanse artiesten, in de Oude Sterrewacht in Leiden.
Aurorae discovered on distant stars suggest hidden planets
Using the world’s most powerful radio telescope, LOFAR, scientists have discovered stars unexpectedly blasting out radio waves, possibly indicating the existence of hidden planets.
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.