Welcome to the LOFAR-UK Website

The LOw Frequency ARray, LOFAR, is a radio telescope working at the lowest frequencies accessible from Earth. Combining many thousands of simple dipole receivers (just like the one in your radio at home) with the latest in high tech computing, LOFAR will be able to survey wide areas of the sky all at once and will open up a new window for astronomers.

When completed, LOFAR will consist of over 5,000 separate antennas spread in "stations" all over Europe. The main project is based in the Netherlands, and most of the array will be there, but outposts are planned in Germany, France, Sweden, Poland and the UK. Several stations are now working in the Netherlands, and a link-up to the first international station (in Efflesberg, Germany) has been successfully completed.

The first LOFAR "station" to be built in the UK will be based at the Chilbolton Observatory in Hampshire. The first parts were delivered Autumn 2009, with construction expected soon.

STFC support for LOFAR-UK

Following extensive discussions with STFC and the UK SKA R&D (Square Kilometre Array Research and Development) teams, a package has been formulated which guarantees the future of the LOFAR-UK station at Chilbolton, supplementing the resources already raised by LOFAR-UK. Additional support for installation, commissioning and operations of the station will now be provided from within the funding provision that was made for the UK SKA R&D programme, while maintaining the independence of LOFAR-UK. The program will now move ahead at full speed, facilitating full UK participation in LOFAR science during the first full array observations in 2010 and beyond.

LOFAR in the news

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