30 search results for “comets” in the Public website
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Dynamics of the Oort Cloud and Formation of Interstellar Comets Santiago Torres Rodriguez
The solar system was formed approximately 4.56 billion years ago. Despite the numerous theories that have been developed over the years, the formation and evolution of the solar system still remain unclear.
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COMET. Human Subject Research and Medical Ethics in Colonial Southeast Asia
Investigating epistemic and ethical practices in medical experimentation on humans in the colonial period in Southeast Asia.
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A molecular journey : tales of sublimating ices from hot cores to comets
The thesis explores how interstellar chemistry evolves as a function of time and changing physical architectures during the formation of stars.
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Chaotic orbit of Comet Halley explained
A team of Dutch and Scottish researchers led by Simon Portegies Zwart (Leiden University) has found an explanation for the chaotic behavior of the orbit of Halley's Comet. The findings are accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
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Celestial worlds and comet hysteria in Van Dishoeck exhibition
A moon rock from the Apollo 17 mission, antique globes and the cosmos according to Wassily Kandinsky. Ewine van Dishoeck, Professor of Molecular Astrophysics, has put together an impressive exhibition at Rijksmuseum Boerhaave.
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Inextricable ties between chemical complexity and dynamics of embedded protostellar regions
Promotor: E. F. van Dishoeck, Co-promotor: C. Walsh
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Chaotic dynamics in N-body systems
Promotor: Prof.dr. S.F. Portegies Zwart, Co-promotor: D.C. Heggie
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Inferno Worlds
A remarkable population of short period transiting rocky exoplanets with equilibrium temperatures on the order of 2,000 K has recently been discovered.
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Astrophysical plasma modeling of the hot Universe: Advances and challenges in high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy
Hot astrophysical plasma is ubiquitous in the Universe, from comets in our Solar system to the largest scale structures -- the cosmic web filaments. These hot plasmas, with the temperature of a few millions of degrees, are often observed in the X-ray wavelength range.
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From midplane to planets : the chemical fingerprint of a disk
This thesis addresses the chemical processes that determine the compositions of giant planet atmospheres.
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Research Programme Colonial and Global History
The Colonial and Global History Research Programme of the Leiden University Institute for History combines a deep curiosity of transcultural processes such as imperialism, (de)colonization, and globalization with critical historical research on regional societies in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
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Leiden discoveries
From the Big Bang to superconductivity. Many ground-breaking discoveries have been made in Leiden University’s long history.
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Pristine cometary dust under the microscope
An international team of researchers with Pascale Ehrenfreund from Leiden University has discovered that the dust particles of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko are made up of even smaller particles. This discovery confirms that clumps of dust form the basis for comets and planets.
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Freon-40 may not be a useful marker of life
Observations made with the ALMA telescope in Chile and ESA’s Rosetta mission, have detected the faint molecular fingerprint of methyl chloride in gas, a chemical commonly produced by industrial biological processes on Earth, around both an infant star and a comet. Methyl chloride, also known as Freon-40,…
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‘Building blocks for life' may originate in space
Amino acids are the building blocks for life on earth. They may originate in space and reach the Earth via comets and meteorites. Daniël Paardekooper examined part of this hypothesis. PhD defence on 5 July.
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Telescopes
The Old Observatory houses four historical telescopes. On this page you can learn more about them.
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Complex Organic Molecules Discovered in Infant Star System
For the first time, astronomers have detected the presence of complex organic molecules, the building blocks of life, in a protoplanetary disc surrounding a young star. The discovery reaffirms that the conditions that spawned the Earth and Sun are not unique in the Universe. The results are published…
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First discovery of methanol in a warm planet-forming disk
An international team of researchers led by Alice Booth (Leiden University, the Netherlands) have discovered methanol in the warm part of a planet-forming disk. The methanol cannot have been produced there and must have originated in the cold gas clouds from which the star and the disk formed. Thus,…
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Glycine in space produced by dark chemistry
An international team of laboratory astrophysicists and astrochemical modellers has shown that glycine, the simplest amino acid and an important building block of life, can form under the harsh conditions that govern chemistry in space. The results have been published this week in Nature Astronomy and…
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Leiden astronomers calculate genesis of Oort cloud in chronological order
A team of Leiden astronomers has managed to calculate the first 100 million years of the history of the Oort cloud in its entirety. Until now, only parts of the history had been studied separately. The cloud, with roughly 100 billion comet-like objects, forms an enormous shell at the edge of our solar…
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Tracing space ice and the building blocks of life
An unprecedented space telescope, an astrolab that makes space ice and molecules that may lead to the origin of life… The Ice Age project has all the prerequisites to become a very fascinating research project – if it is not one already. Leiden astronomers Melissa McClure, Harold Linnartz and Will Rocha…
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History
The Old Observatory has a rich history. On this page you will find a short version of the history that took place in the observatory.
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The Kaiser Spring Lectures are about to start!
The program for the Kaiser Spring Lectures 2018 has been published! Visit the Old Observatory in March for four amazing lectures about the Space Age.
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The Kaiser Spring Lectures are about to start!
The program for the Kaiser Spring Lectures 2018 has been published! Visit the Old Observatory in March for four amazing lectures about the Space Age.
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After us the deluge: exhibition portrays the end of humanity
From a catastrophic fire to a flood that engulfs the earth. Mineke Schipper, Professor Emeritus of Literary Studies, has collected myths from the four corners of the earth about the end of humanity. These have inspired 30 striking paintings by Japanese artist Yuriko Yamaguchi. The Dutch premiere of…
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Many planetary systems prematurely evaporate into thin air
When stars are born, large clouds of gas and dust form that are known as circumstellar discs. Research by PhD candidate Francisca Concha-Ramírez shows that strong radiation from neighbouring stars soon evaporates the dust in these discs, which can prevent planet formation at an early stage. PhD defence…
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Searching for the origins of life in space with 8.9 million euros
With 8.9 million euros from the Danish National Research Foundation, Aarhus University and Leiden Observatory will establish the Center for Interstellar Catalysis. The centre is led by Aarhus professor Liv Hornekær and aims to find out how and when the building blocks of life formed in the Universe.…
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Leiden Classics: The Leiden Observatory, the world’s oldest university observatory
Whether finding signals of dark matter or discovering hydrogen in the vicinity of exoplanets, Leiden astronomers are world players in their field, and they are part of a long tradition: Leiden was the first university in the world to have its own observatory.
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What do PAHs do in space?
Xander Tielens, Professor of Physics and Chemistry of the Interstellar Space, has been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant to study polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in space. The combination of astronomical observations, computer models and lab research makes the research highly interdisciplinary.
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Long-awaited review reveals journey of water from interstellar clouds to habitable worlds
Professor Ewine van Dishoeck, together with an international team of colleagues, has written an overview of everything we know about water in interstellar clouds thanks to the Herschel space observatory. The article, published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, summarizes existing knowledge and…