Author Archive
First light in lab for SPIRou
SPIRou is a near infra red instrument mainly designed to detect exoplanets by measuring radial velocities of M dwarf stars and to study star and planet formation measuring the magnetic fields of these objects. It is led by France with participation of members of PlanetS. SPIRou (Spectro Polarimètre Infra Rouge) is a near infra red […]
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Astronauts visit the Geneva Observatory
There are only 550 in the world who, having carried out at least one orbit around the Earth, have the right to wear the title of “astronaut”. The majority of them are Americans and Russians, only 49 are Europeans. Of these 49, twelve of them traveled to Geneva to visit the astronomical observatory of the […]
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Are there aliens on the dark side of the Moon?
Can you touch the planets? Why can you jump so high on the moon? Ben Moore, together with his wife Katharina Blansjaar, answers a total of 55 galactic questions from children in the new children’s book “Gibt es Aliens auf der dunklen Seite des Mondes?”. The book has recently been published by Kein & Aber. […]
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PlanetS at Fantasy Basel
They were more than 40,000 fanatics of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings rushing at the gates of the Basel Messe for the 2017 edition of the Fantasy Basel, the biggest convention of its kind in Europe. The 45’000 m2 of Halle 2 of the Messe hosted for three […]
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The race to trace TRAPPIST-1h
After 60 hours of non-stop work, researchers at the University of Bern being part of an international team reached their hoped-for goal: They were the first to measure the orbital period for the outermost planet of the famous TRAPPIST-1 system which made headlines worldwide. The new result confirms that the seven Earth-size planets around the […]
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Searching with new eyes
In research, searching with new eyes is important if not crucial. Opening his mind, exploring new paths, testing new approaches, scrutinizing differently, and changing the way we think, are always beneficial for new discoveries. Some articles in this INSIDERS volume illustrate this. The CoRoT mission, that opened the path to the discovery of transiting planets […]
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NGTS eyes start finding new planets
The Next-Generation Transit Survey (NGTS) project is dedicated to finding Neptune sized transiting exoplanets around bright southern hemisphere host stars. It builds on over a decade of experience from the WASP project – the most successful ground based survey for transiting planets. NGTS is the most precise ground-based transit survey currently operating; capable of monitoring […]
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Michel Mayor, the new galactic guru
April the 7th of 2017 will remain as a special day for Michel Mayor. Indeed, he found himself alone on the stage of the Reykjavik Opera House, not to interpret an air of Verdi but to give a conference on exoplanets. He, who is more used to the crowds of researchers or astronomy enthusiasts, was this […]
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Preparing the Site Visit
On 8 and 9 June 2017, the international review panel will visit PlanetS at the University of Bern. Besides a summary of the past achievements, the NCCR will present its visions for the next phase that should start in June 2018. A new site visit is on the horizon! After Geneva Observatory last year, this […]
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Swiss Company Maker
Around twenty future entrepreneurs had been selected by the SwissCompanyMaker to participate in a workshop (supported partly by NCCR PlanetS) on the possibility of turning an idea into viable businesses. Assisted by professional coaches, they spent two days trying to identify and overcome the obstacles on the road to success. “Are you an entrepreneur? “”Why […]
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