Roelien Attema named as Netherlands Academy of Engineering Fellow
ASTRON’s head of the Innovation & Systems department, Roelien Attema, has been named as one of the ten new Fellows of the Netherlands Academy of Engineering (NAE). The appointment recognises her outstanding achievements in technology valorisation and visionary leadership in research and development.
Using short radio flashes to probe the remnants of neutron star mergers
What happens after neutron stars merge? Dr. Antonia Rowlinson has received an ERC Consolidator Grant to find an answer to that fundamental question.
LOFAR1 operations stopped, telescope gearing up for 2.0 upgrade
August 31st was the last day on which we received data from LOFAR1. With the shutdown of LOFAR1 operations, over a decade of gathering and handling huge amounts of data came to an end. LOFAR1 operations have led to the publication of more than 750 scientific papers so far, and this number is still growing by about two papers per week. The end of LOFAR1 production operations does of course not mean the end of LOFAR (which became LOFAR ERIC last year): right now we are working hard on upgrading the LOFAR telescope to version 2.0, both in software and hardware.
Gargantuan Black Hole Jets Are Biggest Seen Yet
Astronomers have spotted the biggest pair of black hole jets ever seen, spanning 23 million light-years in total length. That’s equivalent to lining up 140 Milky Way galaxies back to back.
Radio 1 live broadcast from the Dwingeloo telescope
© NPO Radio 1
The programme was produced by students of the Radioschool to practice making a location-based show.
Benji Heerschop presented the show, with Tammo Jan Dijkema as sidekick and host of the telescope. The show featured many on-site guests, including Harm Munk (astronomy in The Netherlands), Michiel Brentjens (introducing ASTRON), André Offringa (on searching for the EOR signal), David Konijn (on pulsars), and Laura Dreissen (UvA, discussing the search for dark matter). Additionally, there was a tour through the National Park, and a pre-recorded segment from the antenna measurement chamber with Michel Arts. Jan van Muijlwijk made a live EME (Earth-Moon-Earth) contact with a radio amateur in Brazil.
The full three hours can be rewatched and listened to at:
https://www.nporadio1.nl/fragmenten/de-nacht-van/9dbd2421-6060-4a7d-bddc-d8bf011eb1a6/2024-12-16-op-reis-naar-de-sterren-de-nacht-van-kro-ncrv-vanuit-de-grootste-telescoop-in-nederland
Individual segments of the show are also available at https://www.nporadio1.nl/programmas/de-nacht-van/fragmenten?date=16-12-2024
Congratulations to the makers - Aram, Sophia, Joost, Noah, Thijs and Gresa - on their work. This was a very special broadcast.