Green light given for construction of world’s largest radio telescope arrays
At a historic meeting of its Council last week, the recently formed SKA Observatory (SKAO) saw its Member States approve the start of construction of the SKA telescopes in Australia and South Africa.
Apertif survey wraps up at end of 2021
The Apertif/ARTS surveys will wrap-up at the end of 2021. The WSRT observatory will of course continue to be operated, amongst other activities, as part of the European VLBI network.
The galaxy with a wagging tail
One of the most massive galaxies at the centre of the Abell 1775 cluster has a 2.5 million light-year long tail – twice as long as previously thought – that appears to be “wagging”.
SKA Observatory Unveils New Brand For A New Era
The newly born SKA Observatory (SKAO) has unveiled its brand following approval by the SKAO Council at its second meeting.
Famous fast radio burst FRB20180916B just barely lets itself be captured
Two international teams of astronomers (with significant Dutch involvement) have published two scientific papers with new information about the famous fast radio burst FRB20180916B.
Ultra-sensitive radio images reveal thousands of star-forming galaxies in early Universe
An international team of astronomers has published the most sensitive images of the Universe ever taken at low radio frequencies, using the International Low Frequency Array (LOFAR).
A starry sky made of more than 25,000 supermassive black holes
An international team of astronomers has produced the largest and sharpest map of the sky at ultra-low radio frequencies, using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio telescope. The map published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics reveals more than 25,000 active supermassive black holes in distant galaxies.
SKAO is born - Launch of international Observatory signals new era for radio astronomy
The SKA Observatory, a new intergovernmental organisation dedicated to radio astronomy, was launched today following the first meeting of the Observatory’s Council.
ASTRON reveals life cycle of supermassive black hole
For the first time LOFAR and WSRT-Apertif have been used together to measure the life cycle of supermassive black holes emitting radio waves.
Cosmic flashes come in all different sizes
On May 24, four European telescopes took part in the global effort to understand mysterious cosmic flashes. The telescopes captured flashes of radio waves from an extreme, magnetised star in our galaxy.
Data release from the first year of the Apertif imaging surveys
The Apertif imaging team has released science data from the first year of science operations of WSRT-Apertif as the Apertif Data Release 1 (DR1). Now the entire astronomical community can access the data collected by Apertif in its first year of observing, which started on 1 July 2019.
First direct detection of a brown dwarf with a radio telescope
Astronomers at ASTRON have discovered a brown dwarf with LOFAR. The discovery of the object dubbed Elegast, opens up a new path that uses radio telescopes to discover faint objects that are close-cousins of Jupiter-like exoplanets.