News
Impact of the DART space probe could have deformed an asteroid
Thanks to simulations with a software system developed at the University of Bern by NCCR PlanetS members, an international team under Bernese leadership has provided important insights into the impact of NASA’s DART space probe on the asteroid Dimorphos: it is very likely that not just a crater was created, but the entire asteroid was […]
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Update on Instrumentation in PlanetS – February 2024
Discover the latest instrumental developments across the NCCR PlanetS! METIS METIS is taking shape! After 6 years of design work, the Mid-Infrared ELT Imager and Spectrograph (METIS) built started, as the goal is for this instrument to be installed at ESO’s ELT in 2028. Many components and parts are currently in manufacturing since the project underwent […]
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Fantasy Basel 2024 – Call for volunteers
Dear PlanetS members and associates, Once again, PlanetS will return to Fantasy Basel – the Swiss Comic-con – and we need you! This year will be special as it will mark the tenth anniversary of the festival! The organiser have seen big and the event size will increase by 20% to reach 90 000 m2! The […]
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CHEOPS in numbers
The CHEOPS nominal mission came to an end in September 2023. It is not the last of CHEOPS though, as the first extension of the mission is already going full-steam ahead and will last until the end of 2025 or even 2026 (pending approval from national agencies). The end of this first phase of the […]
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Water-worlds, the key to an exoplanet enigma
Why are so few exoplanets about twice the size of Earth detected? On the basis of computer simulations, a team from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) and the Universities of Geneva (UNIGE) and Bern (UNIBE) has confirmed that the migration of sub-Neptunes planets – water-worlds – could explain this absence. As these planets […]
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Dear readers, The year 2023 has been filled with exciting developments and events for NCCR PlanetS. This included important scientific output, events with the public, spacecraft launches, and critical missions extensions. At the end of the decade, the exploration of the Jupiter system will be the focus of two flagship class missions – something I […]
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“Space Talk” – online broadcast about space exploration
Since April 2023, “Space Talk, the programme that brings outer space to Earth” videos have been released monthly. Guido Schwarz from the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS welcomes guests in the studio to talk about space topics. The online series is produced in cooperation with TeleBärn. Every day, the media publish news […]
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Retrospective on 2023 public events
The year 2023 has been rich in events for the NCCR PlanetS. It was mainly the occasion to meet with the public, but also with specific groups, schools and students in first place. Here is a short recap of the year events. US Ambassador visit United States Ambassador Scott C. Miller visited the University of […]
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An ever-growing series of prizes for CaSSIS Mars demystified
Take a space instrument orbiting mars, turn its Principal Investigator (PI) into a detective, add a hint of comic-style images, and you obtain… CaSSIS Mars demystified – a science short film winning a plethora of the awards around the world! The first episode of CaSSIS Mars demystified focused on dust devils, those sort of weak tornado-looking […]
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Searching for meteorites in Antarctica
Finding meteorites is no easy task. Despite this, a team of scientists including NCCR PlanetS member Prof. Maria Schönbächler from ETH Zürich, were successful on an expedition. Their secret? Going to Antarctica where they found several new meteorites between December 2022 and January 2023, including a unique piece weighing 7.6 kilograms. Looking for a needle […]
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