LOFAR

LOFAR is the Low-Frequency Array for Radio astronomy, built by ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy and its international partners, and operated by ASTRON's radio observatory, of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research.

LOFAR is a large interconnected radio telescope using a new concept based on a vast array of omnidirectional antennas. The electronic signals from the antennas are digitised, transported to a central digital processor, and combined in software to emulate a conventional antenna. The project is based on an interferometric array of radio telescopes using about 20,000 small antennas concentrated in at least 48 stations. Forty of these stations are distributed across the Netherlands and were funded by ASTRON. The five stations in Germany, and one each in Great Britain, France and Sweden, were funded by these countries. Further stations may also be built in other European countries. The total effective collecting area is approximately 300,000 square meters, depending on frequency and antenna configuration. The data processing is performed by a Blue Gene/P supercomputer situated in the Netherlands at the University of Groningen. LOFAR is also a technology precursor for the Square Kilometre Array.