Bijdrage van SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research

We congratulate our colleague David Doelman with his Veni grant from NWO (Dutch Research Council) 🎉 David Doelman has been awarded a Veni grant for his research on advanced optical technologies for the next generation of space telescopes 🛰 . These telescopes aim to directly study the light from Earth-like planets 🌍 orbiting nearby stars, in search of evidence of liquid water and life. To investigate the habitability of Earth-like planets and search for signs of life, astronomers need to analyze light directly reflected by the planet itself. By measuring the spectrum of this light, they can determine the composition of a planet's atmosphere, such as the presence of water or oxygen. Polarization measurements can also be used to observe glints in the reflected light on oceans 🌊 or droplets in the atmosphere. A crucial step towards this possibility, is the development of so called liquid crystal coronagraphs for these telescopes. The coronagraphs that David Doelman is developing use precise patterns in liquid crystals to effectively suppress starlight. By combining multiple patterns, it becomes possible to perform spectro-polarimetry across a broader spectrum of light. Additionally, optical aberrations in telescopes can be better corrected. With the grant, David Doelman will install these special optics in a large telescope in Hawaii 📡 (SUBARU) of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and in a telescope suspended from a stratospheric balloon (PICTURE-D) of University of Massachusetts Lowell, funded by NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration APRA. Using these telescopes, David will observe debris disks, remnants of planet formation, and the environments around young stars. This marks the first step towards finding life on exoplanets with future missions. 🚀 #coronagraphy #astronomy #spectroscopy #exoplanets #polarimetry #spectropolarimetry #atmosphericsensing #remotesensing #advancedoptics #optics #stratosphericballoon #telescope #exoplanets

Aerosol–cloud interactions are the largest uncertainty in human-made climate change. SRON researchers Hailing Jia Otto Hasekamp now see weekly cycles of human aerosol pollution reflected in cloud droplet concentrations. Read the paper in Geophysical Research Letters American Geophysical Union: https://lnkd.in/eFju7VWs @agu

SRON takes part in Alpbach Summer School in Austria. On July 9th, sixty European engineering and science students have kicked off the 2024 Alpbach Summer School. Over the course of two weeks, the participants will develop four space mission concepts. In the first few days, the students receive lectures from experts in the field of space research and this year’s theme: Giant planets and their moons. The summer school is organised by the Austrian space agency and sponsored by amongst others ESA and SRON. Four students have been selected by SRON on behalf of The Netherlands—Julia W. (University of Groningen), Veronica Saz Ulibarrena (Leiden University), Luigi Serra (TU Delft) and Allard Veenstra (TU Delft). SRON researcher Willem Jellema is the national point of contact and engineering tutor and Yamila Miguel (SRON/Leiden University) is one of the guest lecturers. #AlpbachSummerSchool European Space Agency - ESA SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research FFG Austrian Research Promotion Agency #IWF_OEAW https://lnkd.in/eH7Q6Tux

Congratulations to Gijs Nelemans (SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research Radboud University) and Elena Maria Rossi (Leiden University) for joining the LISA science team! https://lnkd.in/e5m-QxZA The LISA science team represents the scientific community for which ESA builds the LISA mission and will be consulted on all matters relating to the science output of the mission. This includes the sensitivity of the mission, the data products that will be released and the structure of the initial verification phase in which science topical panels will analyse the first data. The science team is selected in such a way to cover different expertise, have some distribution over the member states and to have diversity in different aspect. The science team also has a representative of the International LISA consortium, to ensure optimal coordination of roles. The science team will be renewed every three years and will exist until the end of the mission, well into the 2040s.    Elena Maria Rossi is selected because of her scientific expertise and role in the consortium and to have a Dutch person in the team. Gijs Nelemans is ad interim representing the LISA consortium, that is currently undergoing a restructuring and will be replaced when the consortium forms its new management.

SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research is proud to be part of the International Methane Emissions Observatory MARS project by providing global methane hot spots to be targeted with high-resolution satellites. These hot spots are based on analysis of data from the Dutch SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research KNMI - Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute Airbus Netherlands B.V. TNO NSO - Netherlands Space Office European Space Agency - ESA space instrument TROPOMI, which has daily global coverage. Co-authors of this paper are Shubham Sharma Xin Zhang Berend Schuit J.D. (Bram) Maasakkers Ilse Aben

Congratulations to Leidse instrumentmakers School Frank Molster and Peter Paul Kooijman!

Morgen is het zover, de uitreiking van de Nederlandse Onderwijspremie! Onze 'buren', de Leidse instrumentmakers School (LiS) is genomineerd en daar zijn we bij SRON heel trots op! De LiS en SRON delen een lange geschiedenis en onze samenwerking is in het recente verleden ook bekrachtigd met een practorschap voor SRON-engineer Peter Paul Kooijman bij het LiS. In deze mooie video kan je zien waarom de Leidse instrumentenmakers School genomineerd is voor deze Nederlandse Onderwijspremie! Leidse instrumentmakers School SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research Ministerie van OCW #SpaceInstrumentation

Het afkoelende effect van aerosolen voegt een onzekerheid van bijna één graad toe aan klimaatmodellen. Sulfaat vormt een van de aerosoltypen met de meeste impact. Uit een analyse van veelgebruikte modellen blijkt nu dat hun voorspellingen over het ontstaan van sulfaataerosolen in de atmosfeer verschillen met bijna een factor twee. De PACE-satelliet gaat helpen bij het aanwijzen van de meest accurate modellen. Lees meer: https://lnkd.in/g4zf4i9z Publicatie van Yusuf Bhatti: https://lnkd.in/gmZSb_BH ------- The cooling effect of aerosols adds an uncertainty of almost one degree in climate models. Sulfate aerosols are one of the most impactful types. An analysis of several widely-used models now concludes that their predications on the creation of sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere differ almost as much as a factor of two. The PACE satellite will help to reveal which models are most accurate.

Next week SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research is present at the #spieastro SPIE Astronomical Telescopes Instrumentation in Yokohama! Come find us at booth #402 Together with #NLSpace partners NSO - Netherlands Space Office cosine Demcon Dutch United Instruments JPE - Driven by innovation TNO Delft University of Technology VDL Groep ASTRON NOVA Netherlands Research School for Astronomy