telescopes news
ASTRON astronomy groups focus on LOFAR and SKA
Recently, the astronomy group within the A&O department of ASTRON went through a reformation: instead of several focus groups, it now consists of two groups: the LOFAR Science Group and the SKA Science Group. The LOFAR Science Group is led by André Offringa, the SKA Science Group by Joe Callingham.
Major upgrade of International LOFAR Telescope approved
The ILT Board has approved the order for the LOFAR2.0 upgrade of all 52 stations plus 2 additional stations of the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT), plus spare parts. A total of € 10 million investment goes to orders at the Dutch companies Neways, Major Electronics, Variass, and Batenburg Industriële Elektronica.
Construction of Square Kilometre Array commences
Today, SKA Observatory celebrates the start of on-site construction of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA).
Astronomers discuss future of Space VLBI in Dwingeloo
On 17-19 October 2022, JIVE and ASTRON co-hosted the 3rd Next Generation VLBI workshop (ngSVLBI-3) in Dwingeloo, the Netherlands. The hybrid workshop was attended both in-person and remotely by about ninety participants from all over the world.
LOFAR detects gigantic radio sources in the universe
An international research team has discovered four radio sources of up to ten million light years in size: megahalos.
ERIS 2022 School inspires next generation of radio astronomers
Over 70 students from all over the world participated in the 9th European Radio Interferometry School (ERIS 2022) hosted by JIVE and ASTRON in Dwingeloo (the Netherlands) on 19-23 September 2022.
TOPIC-led consortium develops CSP-Low for SKA
The SKA telescopes are currently in the construction phase, and with it the central signal processor (CSP) for the SKA Low frequency telescope, called CSP-Low. CSP-Low will be integrated and delivered to site by a consortium led by the Dutch company TOPIC; ASTRON is one of its subcontractors. One of TOPIC’s specializations is designing and developing hardware, firmware, and software for sophisticated systems.
ASTRON-led consortium working on SKAO
A consortium led by ASTRON is developing important software components for processing the vast amounts of data that the soon-to-be largest radio telescope in the world will produce.
NenuFAR officially becomes a LOFAR super station
The low-frequency radio telescope NenuFAR will be connected to the international LOFAR telescope, operated by ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy.
Westerbork and the future of GigaHertz astronomy
The Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) has been a powerhouse of science since it began operations in 1968, making more than 50 years of discoveries in radio astronomy happen. Looking forward, we will strengthen our activities in Westerbork on VLBI, GNSS, data releases of the Apertif surveys, and developing next-generation technology for our instruments.
Flurry of new discoveries as incredible new image revealing 4.4 million galaxies is made public
Over a seven year period an international team of scientists has mapped more than a quarter of the northern sky using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), a pan-European radio telescope. It reveals an astonishingly detailed radio image of more than 4.4 million objects and a very dynamic picture of our Universe.
Cosmic flashes discovered in a surprising location in space
Astronomers have observed mysterious flashes in the sky from an unexpected source, a globular cluster in the galaxy M81.