NOVA REPORT 2003-2005 Illustration on the Front Cover
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NOVA REPORTNOVA 2003 - 2005 NOVA REPORT 2003-2005 Illustration on the front cover Spitzer image of the Serpens molecular cloud mapped by the ‘Cores to Disks’ Legacy program combining data at 3.6, 8 and 24 µm. The inserts show a newly- discovered cluster of young stars as well as the young star VV Ser with its shadow disk. Follow-up IRS spectroscopy shows that the newly discovered sources cover a range of evolutionary stages, from deeply embedded YSOs to young stars with optically thin disks (based on Pontoppidan, Geers, Merin, van Dishoeck et al. 2006). Superposed is a schematic view of a flaring circumstellar disk and the VLTI-MIDI spectra observed of the inner and outer regions of a Herbig Ae disk (van Boekel, Waters et al. 2005). Also superposed is part of the JCMT 345 GHz spectral survey of the low- mass protostar IRAS 16293-2422, showing strong lines of gaseous methanol (Tielens, Helmich et al. 2006). Illustrations on the back cover Clockwise starting at upper left. 1. First ALMA Band 9 receiver cartridge. 2. MIRI qualification model mirrors support structure 3. The 2K camera for the SINFONI integral field spectrograph 4. PuMa for the WSRT. Netherlands Research School for Astronomy NOVA Report 2003 - 2005 NOVA Report 2003 - 2004 - 2005 NOVA Report 2003 - 2005 NOVA Nederlandse Onderzoekschool voor de Astronomie Netherlands Research School for Astronomy Postal address P.O. Box 9513 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands Phone: +31 (0)71 527 5837 Fax: +31 (0)71 527 5743 E-mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.strw.leidenuniv.nl/nova Address J.H. Oort building Niels Bohrweg 2 2333 CA Leiden, The Netherlands Public outreach NOVA Information Center Web: http://www.astronomie.nl NOVA is a federation of the astronomical institutes at the universities of Amsterdam, Groningen, Leiden, Nijmegen and Utrecht, legally represented by the University of Groningen. 2 NOVA Report 2003 - 2005 Table of contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 05 2. Mission statement and research program .......................................................................................... 07 3. Progress reports from the research networks ................................................................................... 08 3.1. Formation and evolution of galaxies: from high redshift to the present .................................. 08 3.2. Birth and death of stars: the life-cycle of gas and dust .................................................................... 22 3.3. Final stages of stellar evolution: physics of neutron stars and black holes .............................. 38 4. PhD’s in astronomy awarded in 2003 - 2004 - 2005 ......................................................................... 58 5. Instrumentation Program ....................................................................................................................... 60 5.1. ALMA high-frequency prototype receiver ........................................................................................ 60 5.2. CHAMP+ ....................................................................................................................................................... 61 5.3. ALMA R&D phase-2 and ALLEGRO .................................................................................................... 62 5.4. Dutch Open Telescope (DOT) ................................................................................................................. 63 5.5. Mid-infrared Interferometer (MIDI) ...................................................................................................64 5.6. NOVA-ESO VLTI Expertise Center (NEVEC) ................................................................................... 65 5.7. OmegaCAM / OmegaCEN ....................................................................................................................... 66 5.8. Pulsar Machine (PuMa-2) ........................................................................................................................ 69 5.9. Raymond & Beverly Sackler Laboratory for Astrophysics ............................................................ 70 5.10. SINFONI ........................................................................................................................................................ 73 5.11. JWST-MIRI ................................................................................................................................................... 75 5.12. Miscellaneous seed funding projects ................................................................................................... 77 5.12.1. The Amsterdam Light Scattering Facility .......................................................................................... 77 5.12.2. Preparation for Gaia photometric data analysis .............................................................................. 78 5.12.3. CHEOPS-SPHERE ...................................................................................................................................... 79 5.12.4. Mid-InfraRed Instrument for the ELT (MIDIR) ............................................................................... 79 5.13. Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) ....................................................................................... 80 5.14. X-SHOOTER ................................................................................................................................................. 81 5.15. LOFAR Development and Commissioning ........................................................................................ 82 6. Personnel funded by NOVA ..................................................................................................................... 84 7. Workshops and Visitors ............................................................................................................................ 88 8. NOVA Information Center (NIC) ........................................................................................................105 9. Organization ............................................................................................................................................... 107 10. Financial report 2003 - 2004 - 2005 ....................................................................................................109 11. List of abbreviations ................................................................................................................................. 110 3 NOVA Report 2003 - 2005 1. Introduction In 1997 the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science initiated a ten-year program, the so-called ‘In Depth Strategy’ to identify and stimulate national focus points of excellent scientific research, which also train outstanding young scientists. To meet the selection criteria, such focus points were compared with the best foreign institutes in their field of research. The Netherlands Organi- zation for Scientific Research (NWO) selected six such National Research Combinations from 34 proposals covering all academic disciplines. The Netherlands Research School for Astronomy, NOVA, was ranked highest among the six, and received an initial grant of 21 M€ to support its proposed innovative research program entitled ‘The Life-Cycle of Stars and Galaxies’ through mid 2005. The NOVA program started in 1999, with a budget profile that ramped up to full strength by 2002. The current report describes activities in 2003, 2004 and 2005. This period saw many new appoint- ments on the permanent and temporary research and technical staff, and continuation of a strong instrumentation program. NOVA funds nearly 25% of the research and technical positions at the five participating universities, an active workshop and visitor program, and outreach efforts. The ambitious instrumentation program is on track, and has generated substantial additional funding. As a result, the quality and quantity of the research output of Dutch astronomy, and of the graduate education, continues to increase. In 2003 NWO carried out a mid-term review of the achievements of the program, and of the plans through 2008, which had been developed with input from NOVA’s International Advisory Board. The resulting very positive recommendation led to a further allocation of nearly 15 M€ to support the program through 2008. Sadly, the chair of the International Advisory Board, professor John Bahcall of the Institute for Advanced Study, and one of the most distinguished astronomers any- where in the world, passed away in August 2005, well before his time. The year 2005 also saw the retirement of van den Heuvel, who had served on the NOVA Board since 1992, and chaired it for many years. He helped shape Dutch astronomy over many decades, and had a key role in the development of the entire NOVA program. His new-found freedom to concentrate on research again is eminently deserved. Highlights for the period 2003-2005 include: • A tremendous variety of new astrophysical results which are summarized in chapter 3 of this report; • A total of 58 PhD degrees in astronomy awarded at the five NOVA institutions (chapter 4), with cum laude for van de Ven; • The excellent performance of MIDI on ESO's VLTI, SINFONI on ESO's VLT and PuMa on the WSRT. MIDI is the first NOVA instrumentation project for which hardware and software deliv- ery was completed. It is the first common-user