The Westerbork telescopes from Astron are icons in the Drenthe landscape. But why did they get there? What can they do? And what do the projects of researchers who work with it deliver? In the three -part series from the darkness of RTV Drenthe, an answer is given to those questions.
“They are closer than ever when answering the question where the first light came from in the universe. And also with the question of whether there is life on other planets,” says program maker and presenter Josien Feitsma about the projects of the Netherlands Institute for RadioStronomy (Astron). “I think many people have no idea what Astron does.”
The immediate reason for making the series is the 75th anniversary of Astron. “But apart from the jubilee, the time is also ripe to pay attention to this. The interest among the audience is great for the theme space. Also because of Elon Musk that is busy in space.”
More and more satellites are circling in lanes around the earth. In addition, everything is used on and around the earth that can cause noise when taking measurements by radio astronomers. Masters, telephones and windmills cause disturbances. “It is under more pressure than ever, the impact is huge,” says Feitsma. “We are at a point that if we want to use radio astronomy in the future, we will have to change something. Director Jessica Dempsey wondered whether there will be a future for RadioSthronomy from the ground in ten years.”
For RTV Drenthe, Feitsma already regularly made reports about the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (Astron). The work of the scientists remains a special world for her. “My own fascination is that despite all the research it is still an unknown world. There are scientists around the world because they can do things here that are not possible anywhere else.