One of the important aspects of radio telescopes, in general, is the synchronisation in between antennas and for LOFAR in particular the synchronization between stations

Today LOFAR celebrates its tenth anniversary.

The view of the radio universe at the VHF frequencies of LOFAR is strongly affected by the Earth’s ionosphere.

This infographic explains how LOFAR utilizes off the shelf GPU’s to create a detailed image from data streams of radio waves.

LOFAR is a highly flexible instrument, which can be utilized for many things. Each antenna, for example, has a 5-second buffer, which can be used to measure very short, strong signals.

The behaviour of black holes and neutron stars can expose some of the most extreme tests of physical law. Therefore, this behaviour can be used to find answers to questions as to how black holes are born and to the origin of magnetic fields and cosmic rays.

A detailed radio image of the entire northern sky in the frequency range of 120-168 MHz. That is what the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTTS) aims to achieve.

13.8 billion years ago, our Universe was created in an event called the Big Bang. “Only” 0.5 billion years later, the Universe entered a pivotal stage.

The large-scale Apertif surveys with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) that started on 1 July 2019 will continue to be supported during 2021.

In addition to the 40 Dutch antenna stations, LOFAR has 14 antenna stations elsewhere in Europe. Just like the antenna stations in the Netherlands, the European stations also send their observation data via fibre optic connections to the central processor (CEP) of LOFAR at Groningen.

Supermassive black holes can leave a trail of energetic particles that astronomers are able to detect using radio telescopes. Usually the radio emissions from these particles fade away and become invisible.