Nobel Prize winner, radio astronomer and radio amateur prof. Joseph Hooton Taylor (for radio amateurs also known as K1JT) is honorary guest at the reopening ceremony of the restored Dwingeloo Radio Telescope on Saturday 5 April. Prof. Taylor was the first to deliver indirect evidence for the existence of gravitational waves. During the opening ceremony he will surprise all guests and reveal hundred new ‘earthlike’ exoplanets. An exoplanet is a planet that revolves around a different star than our sun. Inspiring youth and making them enthusiastic for science and technology is the focus of CAMRAS, the foundation that manages the Dwingeloo telescope, and with this revelation the invited children will literally be at the forefront.
Published by the editorial team, 31 March 2014
The owner of the radio telescope, ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, had the monument restored thoroughly. Now that the renovation is complete, foundation CAMRAS can start using the telescope.
The festive reopening on 5 April consists of a programme for children and invited guests. About sixty kids of different ages can participate in activities about astronomy and modern technology. Part of the programme is a conversation with kids about science and technology. Another element is a musical moonbounce. Moonbounce is a technique in which a message reflects on the moon and is again received by the telescope. This is possible with images as well as music, which then get a special character. Two artists, Daniela de Paulis and Fay Lovsky, will each in their own way use this technology and surprise the guests with radio waves and art.
The programme is set up for the volunteers of CAMRAS, the funding agencies, companies that made the restoration possible and renovated it and for supporters of the foundation CAMRAS. After the official opening, the telescope will be used by and for the youth, radio amateurs and amateur astronomers.
For more information, please contact:
André van Es, chair of CAMRAS, tel.: + 31 521 595 248 / + 31 6 514 334 73. E-mail: bestuur@camras.nl.
Femke Boekhorst, Pr & Communication ASTRON, tel.: +31 521 595 204. E-mail: boekhorst@astron.nl.
Information is available on the following web pages:
www.astron.nl
www.camras.nl