My research focusses on the origin of planetary system such as our own Solar System and the systems that are now commonly found around other stars. I approach this question with observations at wavelengths of a few millimeters to a a few microns, also known as the (sub) millimeter and infrared regions of the electro-magnetic spectrum. These wavelengths can penetrate the thick layers of dust that enshroud newly formed star, allowing astronomers to directly witness the process of star formation in progress. I use instruments such as the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope on Hawaii, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and numerous others.
In 2004 I received a VIDI grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) to cary out a 5-year program called 'Zooming in on Planet-forming Disks with Emerging Submillimeter Facilities'. (more...)
Some of these new facilities which I hope to use, offer unprecedented sensitivity or angular resolution. I am activily involved in the preparation for some of these instruments, such as the enhanced-SMA (the link up of the SMA with the JCMT and the CSO), the CHAMP+ receiver array on APEX, and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA).
I am also interested in millimeter-interferometric observations of comets. These icy bodies contain material that is unchanged since the formation of our Solar System ... that is, until the comet comet came to close to the Sun and its ices started to evaporate! By studying the composition of these evaporating gasses, we get a snapshot from the Solar System 4.5 billion years ago.
A (fairly technical) summary of my work
The research of MRH focuses on molecular line and dust-continuum observations at (sub) millimeter wavelengths to study the physics of protostellar cloud cores and disks around young stars. (more...)
A description of my research as a Miller Fellow
Radio emission from molecules and dust grains is an ideal probe of the conditions in interstellar clouds. In this cold and dilute environment, (more...)Group members
Kuo-Song Wang (PhD student)
Pamela Klaassen (postdoc)
Attila Juhasz (postdoc)
Markus Schmalzl (postdoc)
Tim van Kempen (postdoc)
Ingrid Icke (MSc student)
Babs Beemster (MSc student)
Pablo Castellanos Nash (MSc student)
Geert Jan Talens (BSc student)
Roman Tatch (BSc student)
Former group members:
Wilfred Frieswijk (postdoc)Dominik Schleicher (postdoc)
Agnes Kospal (postdoc)
Richard Alexander (postdoc)
Olja Panic (PhD 2009)
Demerese Salter (PhD 2011)
Caspar Schonau (MSc student)
Sebastian Smeets (BSc stduent)
Dr. Antonio Crapsi (Postdoc)
Dr. Tracey Hill (postdoc)
Christian Brinch (PhD 2008)
Tim van Kempen (PhD 2008)
Arno Kockx (MSc student)
Rafael Martinez Galarza (MSc student)
Hester Schouten (MSc student)
Reinout van Weeren (MSc student)