Astronomical Events and news releases
Herschel detects water vapour in a carbon star
ESA's Herschel Space Observatory has detected water vapour in a location previously thought to be impossible - in the atmosphere of an ageing, red giant carbon star. The rich and detailed data provided by Herschel can be explained within a new framework in which ultraviolet photons play a key role. These results are reported in the 2 September issue of Nature.
The research team was led by Leen Decin (KULeuven) and one of the team members is Martin Groenewegen of ROB.
New Web-based Earthquake Alarm System
Cross-border Analysis in Belgium and Germany
Assistance from the public is Requested
CESRA 2010
Belgium and Radio science
The strategic interest of radio observations
Every 3 years, radio scientists gather together to discuss the newest scientific developments and instrumentation. For the 2010 edition, La Roche-en-Ardenne welcomes the international radio community. During the conference, the official kick-off is given for the scientific exploitation of the PROBA2-data. A team of scientists will draw up a strategic plan to get a maximal output of the satellite data in synergy with other data, like radio-data.
'Solar Dynamics Observatory' first light
On April 21 at 14:00 EDT (20:00 Belgian summer time), NASA will host a press conference to present the spectacular first images (“First Light”) gathered by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), a new space mission designed to make the most detailed observations of the Sun ever.
Chile Earthquake Measured by the Belgian Seismic Station in Antarctica
Mars Express in closest flyby of Phobos
The radioscience team of the Royal Observatory of Belgium will analyze the data from the flyby of MarsExpress spacecraft near the small Martian moon, Phobos. On March 3, 2010 at 21h55m of our time, MarsExpress flew by Phobos at approximately 65km above the surface! A rare and extremely close flyby allowing them to better understand the origin of Phobos.
See http://webservices.esa.int/blog/blog/7/ and http://planets.oma.be/MARS/marsexpres_phobos_en.php
More on Phobos and the ROB:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527451.100-destination-phobos-humanitys-next-giant-leap.html
Launch of the 'Solar Dynamics Observatory'
On February 11 2010, NASA launched a new space mission, the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), to take the most detailed observations of the Sun ever, and understand the complex weather and storms of our own star.SDO will provide solar observations of superlative quality, producing extreme amounts of data.
The Royal Observatory of Belgium located in Uccle will be the only European institute that receives all SDO data directly from the US, but it will serve as a relay and redistribute images further in Europe. The scientists anticipate that over its five-year mission, SDO will revolutionize our understanding of the Sun.
Seismology
Recent earthquakes
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