The Apertif/ARTS surveys will wrap-up at the end of 2021. The WSRT observatory will of course continue to be operated, amongst other activities, as part of the European VLBI network.
STORIES
One of the most massive galaxies at the centre of the Abell 1775 cluster has a 2.5 million light-year long tail – twice as long as previously thought – that appears to be “wagging”.
The newly born SKA Observatory (SKAO) has unveiled its brand following approval by the SKAO Council at its second meeting.
DAILY IMAGE
Live-streaming the partial solar eclipse
© Tammo Jan Dijkema
During the broadcast, we presented the live signal of the Dwingeloo telescope (total intensity at 410MHz), which showed a clear dip. The new, crowd-funded heliostat at the Oude Sterrewacht in Leiden demonstrated its first non-cloudy eclipse. We showed live signals from a Lunt solar telescope, and piggy-backed on a livestream from Canada where an annular eclipse could (almost) be seen. The live stream lasted 2.5 hours, so there were also short talks on the scientific, biological and historical background of eclipses.
In Dwingeloo, dozens of passers-by could also get a glimpse of the eclipse: Harm-Jan Stiepel had brought a projecting telescope that clearly showed the Sun on a big piece of cardboard. There were also eclipse glasses, and a professional explanation from Pietro Zucca. Both were featured in the nice tv item on RTV Drenthe.
The live stream was a collaboration between Werkgroep Leidse Sterrewacht, Leidse Sterrewacht, the student association F. Kaiser from Leiden, and CAMRAS.
Thanks to media attention, the amount of live viewers was quite high: about 1500 people watched live, and the recording was played back 17000 times (so far).
EVENTS
CAREERS
