LOFAR | ASTRON

What is LOFAR?

The LOw Frequency ARray is a multi-purpose sensor array. Its main application is astronomy at low frequencies (10-250 MHz) which is described at the present site. LOFAR has also applications in Geophysics and Agriculture, which are described at http://www.lofar.org/.

For the astronomy application LOFAR is a radio interferometric array consisting of many low-cost antennae. There are two distinct antennae types: the Low Band Antennae (LBA) operating between 10 and 90 MHz and the High Band Antennae (HBA) operating between 110 and 250 MHz. The antennae are organised in aperture array stations.

The stations are distributed over an area of about 100 km in diameter, located in the north of the Netherlands. Several international stations are contructed or planned in Germany (5), Sweden (1) , the UK (1), France (1), Poland and Italy. The longest baselines in Europe are 1500 km.

A Wide Area Network (WAN) connects the stations with the CEntral Processing facility (CEP), an IBM BlueGene/P super computer in Groningen, where data are collected and processed.

One of the major differences with traditional telescopes is that LOFAR will be extremely flexible. That is why LOFAR is also referred to as a software radio telescope and the software already was one of the main focuses at the start of the project.

Observing with LOFAR

For practical and technical information on how to apply for LOFAR observations and data access and the use of the instrument please visit the Radio Observatory pages.

Science with LOFAR - Key Science Projects

LOFAR will open a new observational window on the Universe and make a large number of new science projects possible. You can find a description of the Key Science Projects and of more LOFAR science/links at this page.

For more detailed information, click here. You can also visit the LOFAR website: http://www.lofar.org/.

LOFAR in other countries