Astronomy ambassadors to Chile: ALMA radio telescope

Robert Pettengill’s final report on his recent trip to Chile with the Astronomy in Chile Educator Ambassador Program. Thank you, Rob! Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/aceap-2019-alma-chile-pettengill…

Two-dimensional (2-D) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy with a microfluidic diamond quantum sensor

Quantum sensors based on nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond are a promising detection mode for nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy due to their micron-scale detection volume and noninductive-based sample detection requirements. A challenge that exists is to sufficiently realize high spectral resolution coupled with concentration sensitivity for multidimensional NMR analysis of picolitre sample volumes. In a new report now on Science Advances,…

Travelling towards a quantum internet at light speed

A research team lead by Osaka University demonstrated how information encoded in the circular polarization of a laser beam can be translated into the spin state of an electron in a quantum dot, each being a quantum bit and a quantum computer candidate. The achievement represents a major step towards a “quantum internet,” in which future computers can rapidly and securely…

Precision calibration empowers largest solar telescope

An article published in the SPIE publication Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems (JATIS), “Polarization Modeling and Predictions for DKIST Part 5: Impacts of enhanced mirror and dichroic coatings on system polarization calibration,” marks a substantial advance in ensuring the accurate solar information measured and collected by the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST). Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-06-precision-calibration-empowers-largest-solar.html…

CLASP-2: Investigating the magnetic solar chromosphere

Four years ago, an international team (USA, Japan and Europe) carried out an unprecedented suborbital space experiment called CLASP-1, motivated by theoretical investigations carried out at the IAC by Javier Trujillo Bueno and his research group. After the outstanding success of that mission, NASA launched CLASP-2 from a launch center near Las Cruces (USA). CLASP-2 has made it possible to detect…