Low-Frequency Array

The Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) is a distributed radio telescope that observes low-frequency radio waves using antennas and processing stations across Europe, coordinated from a central core in the Netherlands.

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Radio interferometry: A technique that combines signals from separate radio antennas to measure the structure of astronomical sources. LOFAR synthesizes a large effective aperture by correlating signals from geographically separated stations.
Radio astronomy: The study of celestial objects and phenomena through their radio-frequency emissions. LOFAR is a radio observatory whose measurements reveal sources invisible or different at optical wavelengths.
Epoch of Reionization: The period when the first luminous sources ionized most of the neutral hydrogen in the early universe. LOFAR searches for redshifted hydrogen signals that could reveal this poorly observed era.
ASTRON: The Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, which develops and operates radio astronomy facilities. ASTRON led LOFAR's development and operates its central facilities.
International LOFAR Telescope: The European network of LOFAR stations that extends the telescope beyond its Dutch core. Its international stations lengthen baselines and increase the array's resolving power.
Phased array: An antenna system that steers or shapes its reception by adjusting the relative phases of signals from multiple elements. LOFAR steers its reception electronically rather than moving a single dish.
Dipole antenna: An antenna formed by two conductive elements that radiates or receives electromagnetic waves. LOFAR's low-band antennas use dipoles to receive long-wavelength radio signals.
Pulsar: A rotating neutron star whose beams of electromagnetic radiation produce periodic signals. LOFAR's low-frequency sensitivity supports studies of pulsar emission and propagation through space.
Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy: The former name of ASTRON, the Dutch institute responsible for radio astronomy research and infrastructure. This earlier institutional name appears in accounts of LOFAR's planning and construction.
LOFAR Two-meter Sky Survey: A radio survey mapping the northern sky at frequencies near 150 megahertz with LOFAR. Its large-area maps demonstrate the scientific scale achievable with LOFAR's digital survey strategy.