News
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Sjoert van Velzen receives Vidi grant to solve 'riddles from the universe'29 June 2023
Minuscule elementary particles from space colliding with Earth can give us an insight into the distant objects they come from. But first, you need to ...
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Surprising molecule helps detect protoplanets28 June 2023
A team of scientists, including Leiden Astronomer Alice Booth, has discovered silicon monosulfide molecules in the dust disk around a young star. Such...
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Leiden PhD student discovers thin atmosphere on exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 c with JWST20 June 2023
A group of astronomers led by Leiden PhD student Sebastian Zieba has discovered using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) that the rocky exoplanet T...
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What tiny isotopes reveal about planets outside our solar system01 June 2023
Planets existing in other solar systems contain invaluable information about the origin of planets and life. PhD candidate Yapeng Zhang has studied th...
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How do you recognise the atmosphere of extraterrestrial lava worlds?23 May 2023
In the past 30 years, over 5,000 planets have been discovered outside our solar system. One common exoplanet is the lava world, a hot super-Earth with...
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BlackGEM telescopes begin hunt for gravitational-wave sources16 May 2023
Three Dutch-Belgian telescopes have started operating at the ESO La Silla Observatory in Chile. This so-called BlackGEM array will scan the southern s...
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Astronomers spot benzene in planet-forming disk around star for first time11 May 2023
An international team of astronomers including Leiden professor Ewine van Dishoeck has observed the benzene molecule (C6H6) in a planet-forming disk a...
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Hunting for life’s building blocks at minus 250 degrees Celsius02 May 2023
Searching for life’s building blocks lightyears away is an important task of the James Webb Space Telescope. But how does it know what to look for? Ph...
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Astronomers see birth cluster of galaxies in early universe30 March 2023
An international team of astronomers has discovered a large reservoir of hot gas in the cluster-in-formation around the Spiderweb Galaxy. Based partly...
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How the speed demons of the universe tell us something about the Milky Way10 March 2023
They hurtle along at over a thousand kilometres per second: the fastest stars in the Milky Way. PhD candidate Fraser Evans conducted research into the...
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Astronomers find missing link for origin of water in solar systems08 March 2023
An international team of astronomers, including astronomers from Leiden University, has found the missing link in the path taken by water through star...
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The James Webb Telescope takes stunning photos. But what exactly are we looking at?06 March 2023
For over a year now, the James Webb Telescope has been sending stunning images that exceed astronomers’ expectations. The photos are fascinating to se...
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Vici grant for research on the formation of galaxies23 February 2023
How do galaxies form? That is what astronomer Mariska Kriek will be researching in the coming years. She received an NWO Vici grant of 1.5 million eur...
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Four Vici grants for Leiden University researchers23 February 2023
Four researchers from Leiden University have been awarded prestigious Vici grants the Dutch Research Council (NWO) has announced. The honoured applica...
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Is there oxygen on exoplanets? New telescope finds out20 February 2023
To what extent does exoplanet Proxima b resemble our Earth? And is there some form of life present? Astronomers hope to find answers to these question...