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02-06-2009
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Panoramic Radio Astronomy conference begins!

Submitter: Paolo Serra
Description: Radio astronomy is entering an exciting new era. While new instruments such as LOFAR are opening up unexplored frequency ranges, research in the more familiar 1-2 GHz regime will soon be revolutionised by the construction of wide-field interferometers. These will for the first time enable high-resolution all-sky surveys, which will have a scientific impact comparable to that of the many successful optical surveys of the past decade. The way radio astronomy is done will change profoundly.

One of the areas that will benefit the most from the new instruments is research into the evolution of galaxies over the past few Gyr. In particular, wide-field observations at 1-2 GHz will provide an unprecedented panoramic view of the gas properties and star formation in galaxies, embedded in their environment, from z~0.2-0.5 to the present. ASTRON, in collaboration with ATNF, the University of Cape Town and with the support of RadioNet, has organised a conference with the aim of discussing the research projects that the new instruments will make possible: Panoramic Radio Astronomy 2009!

The conference, held at the Hampshire Plaza Hotel in Groningen, begins today and will last until the end of the week. The LOC and SOC are led by ASTRON's Paolo Serra and George Heald. Eighty astronomers from around the world will join into lively discussions on the best ways to use the upcoming instruments: Apertif (NL), ASKAP (AUS), ATA (US), EVLA (US), MeerKat (SA), all expected to become fully operational within a few years.

For more information about the conference, please visit the website http://www.astron.nl/pra2009/ . We wish all the participants a great conference!
Copyright: Credit for the telescope images - MeerKAT: Jeroen de Boer; ASKAP: Chris Fluke, Swinburne University, Victoria; WSRT: Flickr user Yeve'; VLA: NRAO; ATA: SETI Institute
 
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