Author: David Mary

Recent statistics about MAUCA students here.

From this year on, MAUCA students have the possibility to follow several training modules at Thales Alenia Space (in addition to a METEOR there).

There are 4 modules (about 10 days in total) :

1) Introduction to spacecraft missions
2) Initiation to spacecrafts systems
3) Space optics and instruments
4) Teledetection

As for MAUCA lectures, these modules are in english.

These modules are of course of interest for students interested by a space/industry/instrumentation career . However, they are also intended for students more interested by a career focused on research in astrophysics, as much of the contemporary research relies on data collected from spacecrafts.

here

The paper follows the work  of a METEOR abroad at Thessaloniki and has now been accepted at MNRAS. It is available on arxiv here.

On November 15th,  MAUCA  students were able to image a French cubesat: Spacecube, using the C2PU 1m telescope of the Calern observatory. More

More here

From ESO’s press release, interest in our neighbouring Alpha Centauri star system has been particularly high since the recent discovery of an Earth-mass planet, known as Proxima b, orbiting the system’s third star — and the closest star to the Sun — Proxima Centauri. While the system’s larger stellar pair, Alpha Centauri A and B, appear to have a proper motion on the sky that is very similar to that of the smaller, fainter Proxima Centauri, it has not been possible to demonstrate that the three stars do actually form a single, gravitationally bound, triple system.

Now three astronomers, Pierre Kervella, Frédéric Thévenin and Christophe Lovis, have concluded that the three stars do indeed form a bound system, see their article Proxima’s orbit around Alpha Centauri.

Courses notes

here

See ESA’s announcement.

Many scientists from OCA have contributed to this achievement.

In MAUCA the following METEOR are linked to GAIA:

Galactic Archaeology

Stellar Clusters: Rosetta stone of stellar and galactic evolution

Formation and Interpretation of Stellar Spectra

Stellar Pulsation and Evolution Polar and Space Missions