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Telescopes

ASTRON is responsible for the operations of the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) and the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR).

Astronomy

The astronomical research at ASTRON is closely aligned with the strengths of our facilities LOFAR and WSRT-APERTIF.

Diversity & Sustainability

ASTRON is committed to achieving a fair, welcoming, and sustainable work environment for all.

Beschermingszones


Met onze radiotelescopen nemen wij de meest zwakke signalen uit het heelal waar. Daardoor zijn zij kwetsbaar voor elektromagnetische storing. Met het tijdig treffen van de juiste maatregelen kan storing worden voorkomen.

Wireless Data Lab


Draadloze techniek lijkt vanzelfsprekend, maar de ontwikkeling ervan gaat niet vanzelf. Daarom hebben we bij ASTRON een proeftuin ingericht; het Wireless Data Lab.

Making discoveries
in radio astronomy
happen.

ASTRON is the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, and is part of the Institutes organisation of NWO.
STORIES

Astronomers uncover white dwarf system emitting bright radio pulses with strange rhythm

Researchers identify a mystifying Long-Period Transient with 100% polarized radio emission, suggesting new type of cosmic radio source. A team of astronomers at ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, has discovered a mysterious new cosmic radio source that challenges current theories about how dead stars can produce such powerful emissions. Using the LOFAR (Low Frequency Array) radio telescope, the team picked up the unusual signal as part of a study led by astronomer Sanne Bloot. This research was published today in the scientific journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Astronomy
LOFAR
Published by the editorial team, 17 July 2025

Exoplanet Sparks Stellar Fireworks

Astronomers have witnessed a planet causing storms to erupt on its parent star, a discovery that could reshape our understanding of how planets and stars interact and evolve together. These findings are published today in the scientific journal Nature.

Astronomy
Published by the editorial team, 2 July 2025

New ‘mini halo’ discovery deepens our understanding of how the early Universe was formed

Astronomers have uncovered a vast cloud of energetic particles – a ‘mini halo’ – surrounding one of the most distant galaxy clusters ever observed, using the LOFAR radio telescope, marking a major step forward in understanding the hidden forces that shape the cosmos.

LOFAR
News
Published by the editorial team, 27 June 2025

An Earth-sized radio observatory just got better: South Africa’s MeerKAT telescope joins forces with the European VLBI Network of telescopes

South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope has successfully conducted very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations with telescopes of the European VLBI Network (EVN)—currently the world’s most sensitive VLBI network. Their synergy sets a new standard for global collaboration and significantly enhances both resolution and sensitivity, opening new avenues for scientific exploration.

News
WSRT-APERTIF
Published by the editorial team, 10 June 2025
DAILY IMAGE

LOFAR CEP getting ready for LOFAR2.0

© Adriaan Renting

LOFAR CEP is the LOFAR CEntral Processing systems located at the CIT at Groningen University. This is where all the signals from the LOFAR stations arrive and are combined and processed before they go to the LOFAR Long Term Archive (LTA). We are currently in the process of replacing a lot of the old systems used for LOFAR1 and the commissioning of LOFAR test stations with new hardware. This will happen in three phases as the stations are rolled-out and LOFAR2.0 ramps up to full production capabilities over the next year. In late May/early June 2025 the first big batch of new systems was delivered in Dwingeloo, transported to CIT, unpacked and installed and connected in the data centre. This concerns mainly parts of our new CEP6 processing and data storage cluster, and parts of the new Monitoring and Control hypervisor cluster, including a new MinIO S3 storage. We are currently testing the new hardware and things are looking good. We hope to have new Cobalt 3 systems delivered in August.
ASTRON daily image.
EVENTS

CASPER Workshop 2025

Mon 08 Sep 2025 - Fri 12 Sep 2025

The CASPER workshop is a semi-annual workshop where FPGA, GPU, and general heterogeneous system programmers get together to discuss new instruments in radio astronomy, as well as the tools and libraries for developing and manipulating these instruments.

@astron

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