Dive deep into space research with the SRON open days!
Will you too step into the world of space research with SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research in October? We are organising educational open days with a fun programme for young and old, predominantly in Dutch. The door is open in SRON Groningen on Sunday October 1st (together with Kapteyn Institute) and in SRON Leiden on Saturday October 7th.
About SRON
With sensitive instruments in space, we look up at the stars, planets, galaxies, dust clouds and black holes. This is how we learn more about how the universe and its inhabitants work, including earth-like planets elsewhere. Also, from above, we look down at our planet Earth. This is how we learn what happens in the atmosphere, and what that means for our climate. We develop and make those space instruments at SRON, together with researchers and industries from the Netherlands and other countries.
About our space instruments
With our instruments in space, you can capture light that you cannot capture well enough from Earth. Because when looking to space from earth, the air mixture and clouds get in the way. We want to catch special kinds of light, which our eyes cannot see well. For example, X-ray light from hot events like exploding stars or stars being devoured by a black hole. And also infrared, from clouds of dust clumping together to form new stars. Some space instruments are camera’s that make pictures. Other instruments can detect fingerprints in the light, that tell us precisely how hot the stardust is, and in what direction it is flying.
What will you learn on the open days?
On the open day, we show what space camera’s can reveal. And we show how we devise, test, and improve new sensitive detectors in Leiden and Groningen, and eventually make them suitable as cameras in space.
What can you do on our open days?
Join us for fun lab work, demonstrations and lectures. Visitors of any age can come and learn lots of interesting stuff. What do you look like, if you see yourself through a thermal (infrared) camera? Can you solder electronics in our lab? Is there life on other planets? How do you chase greenhouse gases moving through our skies? Come and find out in Leiden and/or Groningen.
The SRON Groningen open day is on Sunday October 1st, 12:00h – 17:00h. Kapteynborg building, Landleven 12, Zernike Campus Groningen. The open day in Groningen is part of the Groningen science festival Zpannend Zernike. www.zpannendzernike.nl.
Open Day SRON Leiden practical Information and time:
The SRON Leiden open day is on Saturday October 7th, 11:00h – 16:00h SRON building, Niels Bohrweg 4, Bio Science Park Leiden. (Parking is available for 2 euro per hour in the Ehrenfestgarage on the Ehrenfestweg) In Leiden, our open day is part of Space Week and Weekend van de Wetenschap
Keep an eye on our open day newspage, because more details will follow later! (Dutch and English) and find a comic about our work (Dutch).
