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“Opening the gate to the universe”
„Professor Michel Mayor, on behalf of the President of the Republic, I hereby appoint you Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honour.“ With these words, the ambassador of France in Switzerland, Anne Paugam, presented the astrophysicist with a medal that she fastened to his jacket. With a big smile Michel Mayor thanked […]
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Water during planet formation and evolution
In an interdisciplinary workshop, 50 participants will discuss about the effects of water on planets at the Irchel Campus of the University of Zurich from 12–16 February 2018. The registration deadline is 15 November 2017. Hurry up for a last-minute chance. „This workshop is a bottom-up initiative of young PlanetS researchers, supported by some of the […]
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Back from the JUniors Researchers’ Assembly
From the 11th to the 13th of September, thirty-three PhD students and postdocs, members or associates of PlanetS met together in an hotel in Les Rasses – Ste Croix near Yverdon. They participated in the first JURA: JUniors Researchers’ Assembly. This new tool created by the NCCR PlanetS is an effort to strengthen the interactions […]
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SwissCompanyMaker 2018: Register now!
You have an idea and want to know if it is worth pursuing commercially? You want to know what the next steps should be? Participate in the pre-seed workshop of SwissCompanyMaker for aspiring entrepreneurs in science and technology in April 2018. Scientists often develop interesting ideas and cutting-edge technology that never find their way into […]
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The first exoplanet dicovered by NGTS surprised astronomers
Thanks to a new instrument developed in part by the Geneva Observatory, an international team of astronomers discovered a giant planet around a star two times smaller than the sun. This planet surprised astronomers who thought that the existence of such big planets was unlikely around small stars. About the size of Jupiter and orbiting […]
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“Make sure that you are unique”
Ewine van Dishoeck is a pioneer in astrochemistry and one of the most famous female astronomers in the world. Invited by the Center for Space and Habitability (CSH) of the University of Bern the Dutch professor gave the CSH Distinguished Lecture 2017, had many discussions with the CSH and NCCR PlanetS scientists and advised the […]
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ESPRESSO
Dear Reader, As you will read in this edition of the Observer, we have said good-bye to ESPRESSO which is now on its way to the ESO Paranal Observatory near Antofagasta in Chile where it will be integrated into the VLT later this year. ESPRESSO, the development of which was led by Francesco Pepe from […]
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Chasing alien worlds with a flying telescope
The airborne Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) observed a mini-eclipse of the extrasolar planet GJ 1214b. The goal was to find out if this world outside of our solar system is a super-sized Earth or a miniature Neptune. It was the first time SOFIA did observations of this kind and it was demonstrated that […]
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CHEOPS children drawings engraved
Our campaign to collect CHEOPS children drawings is completing a major milestone as the first plaques have been engraved. The article tells the story of their production and illustrates the beautiful results. Between March and October 2015, children between the age of 8 and 14 were invited to participate in a competition and submit a […]
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