Author Archive
Talking about astronomy
How coherent are we in our language when teaching and talking about astronomy? By Nadine Afram During a conference about ‚Education in Astrophysics and Astrobiology‘, the audience was asked to point North. Many stretched their arm and pointed into a direction horizontally in front of them. We were wrong. We should have pointed in front […]
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Witnessing the great transit
Some members and associates of PlanetS were lucky to be able to watch the solar eclipse in the US on 21 August 2017. Together with colleagues, Gavin Coleman, postdoc at the University of Bern, attended an exoplanet conference at Boise State University that included a trip to view the amazing spectacle. By Gavin Coleman We […]
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A 10 to 50 billion USD project
NASA has just appointed Kevin Heng, director of the Center for Space and Habitability (CSH) at the University of Bern, as an international observer to a study for its next, great space telescope to be launched in the 2030s. The Large UV/Optical/IR Surveyor (LUVOIR) is a concept for a highly capable, multi-wavelength space observatory. It […]
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Visit of Swiss science journalists
More than 30 Swiss science journalists visited PlanetS at the University of Bern and had a look at CHEOPS, CaSSIS and the vibration test laboratory. Each year at its general assembly, the Swiss Association of Science Journalism (SASJ) visits a renowned research institution. After the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology EMPA and […]
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Space research at «Nacht der Forschung»
Highlight of the third «Nacht der Forschung» of the University of Bern: 50 years space research At the «Nacht der Forschung» on Saturday September 16th, 2017, visitors of all ages will have the opportunity to meet more than 400 Bernese researchers and to try a broad choice of hands-on activities. As a highlight of the […]
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Communication request: Use our new form
The communication team is here to support you in all communication belongings. To increase the availability the team created an easy to fill form on the internal page. You have an idea for a media release, a Facebook post or a news item on the NCCR website? You’re looking for help in promoting your new […]
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Stellarium Gornergrat
Dear Reader, In a previous writing, I have already stressed the commitment by PlanetS to education and outreach and mentioned a few of our activities (exhibits, planetarium show, etc.) inviting you to check them out by yourself. Today, I am particularly proud to introduce to you the latest project, the Stellarium Gornergrat. After several years […]
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The Stellarium Gornergrat officially starts operations for schools
The Center for Space and Habitability at the University of Bern (CSH), the University of Geneva (UNIGE), and their partners built and configured a remote-controllable telescope facility at the Gornergrat. Its primary use is dedicated to education and outreach and its dedicated pedagogical portal just became operational. This way, schools all over Switzerland get access […]
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Assembling the flight model
After the engineers at the University of Bern integrated and tested models of the CHEOPS space telescope, they are now working on the hardware that will actually be sent into space. In the clean room especially built for CHEOPS they are assembling the flight model of the instrument. «We are proceeding well,» says Willy Benz, […]
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«We will find Planet 9 in less than a decade»
With his bright red colored hair Konstantin Batygin looks more like a rock musician than an astrophysicist. In fact, he is both: Assistant Professor of Planetary Sciences at Caltech, US, and leader of the hard rock band “The Seventh Season”. He made headlines worldwide in 2016, when he predicted together with Mike Brown the existence […]
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