News & Events

May 11: 75 years of the hydrogen line in the Netherlands — from Kootwijk to Westerbork and SKA

On 11 May 1951, the predecessor of ASTRON (the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy) observed the 21-centimeter radiation of neutral hydrogen for the first time in the Netherlands. Since then, this radio emission has become one of the most important tools in modern astronomy.

Innovative radio receiver sees its first light on the Westerbork telescope

In the continuing quest to observe the sky as never before possible, ASTRON develops novel technologies for radio telescopes that allow astronomers to see farther, faster, and at more frequencies. These same innovations are leveraged for satellite tracking and other remote sensing applications. With the development of the Ambient L-band Feed (ALF), ASTRON is charting a new course where such measurements can be done using less power and requiring less maintenance of the equipment. Recently, first light measurements using the ALF prototype receiver demonstrated the power of this novel technology by revealing a pulsar across a broader range of radio wavelengths than Westerbork has ever measured before.

Geoffrey Bower appointed as new director of ASTRON

The Board of NWO-I has appointed Prof. Dr. Geoffrey C. Bower as the new director of ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy. Effective 1st of September 2026, Prof. Dr. Bower will succeed Prof. Dr. Jessica Dempsey. With this appointment, ASTRON welcomes a strategic leader with a wide range of scientific and technical work in the field of Physics and Astronomy.

Insight into the inner workings of lightning

A bright flash, a loud bang, and a deep rumble: lightning is a fascinating meteorological phenomenon, and perhaps a little scary. Though it has been around forever, research on the inner workings of lightning has been limited thus far. However, Brian Hare and his colleagues from the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute (part of the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Groningen) are shaking up the lightning research landscape. How? By using ASTRON’s large radio telescope LOFAR.

Largest Ever Radio Sky Survey Maps the Universe in Unprecedented Detail

An international collaboration using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) has unveiled an exceptionally detailed radio sky map, revealing 13.7 million cosmic sources and delivering the most complete census yet of actively growing supermassive black holes. It showcases an extraordinary variety of systems powered by these black holes, whose radio emission can extend for millions of light-years. The newly released LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS-DR3) marks a major milestone in radio astronomy and international scientific collaboration. The result is published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

European observatories and administrations in dialogue on satellite interference

On Friday 23 January, representatives from radio astronomy observatories and administrations of Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden, together with members of the Committee on Radio Astronomy Frequencies (CRAF) and the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO), met at the Paris Observatory to exchange views on the challenges posed by unintended electromagnetic radiation (UEMR) from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellations.

8th LOFAR Data School

We are pleased to announce that the 8th LOFAR Data School (LDS2026) will be held from Wednesday, September 16th to Wednesday, September 23rd 2026 at ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, in Dwingeloo, the Netherlands. The registration is now open at: https://acme-lds2026.sciencesconf.org/ and it will close on April 20th, 2026. Rationale The goal of the school is […]