LOFAR – Astronomy Now

Tell-tale signatures of aurorae new tool in hunt for exoplanets

20 February 2020 Astronomy Now

Astronomers detect auroral interactions between a red dwarf and an unseen exoplanet, providing a new tool for studying exoplanet habitability.

‘Extreme’ telescopes find the second-fastest-spinning pulsar

6 September 2017 Astronomy Now

By following up on mysterious high-energy sources mapped out by NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, the Netherlands-based Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio telescope has identified a pulsar spinning at more than 42,000 revolutions per minute, making it the second-fastest known.

SKA: 2016 Square Kilometre Array science conference opens in Goa, India

7 November 2016 Astronomy Now

When constructed, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will be the world’s largest radio telescope. The SKA project’s 2016 science conference, “Science for the SKA Generation,” has kicked off in Goa, India. Some 200 astronomers from around the globe have travelled to attend the week-long conference.

Hotspots in Cygnus A: an active galactic nucleus

25 October 2016 Astronomy Now

Newly obtained radio images of the dramatic bipolar jets of charged particles being ejected from the nucleus of galaxy Cygnus A were able to resolve hotspots in the jets at the places where they impact the surrounding medium. A bright radio galaxy such as this can beam as much as one trillion solar luminosities of radiation into space at those wavelengths.

LOFAR radio telescope network to extend into Ireland

13 January 2016 Astronomy Now

The world’s biggest connected radio telescope is about to become even bigger! A LOFAR (Low Frequency Array) station will be constructed this year on the grounds of Birr Castle, located centrally in Ireland. This is not only great news for Irish astrophysics, but also for the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT).

Researchers find a new way to weigh pulsars

5 October 2015 Astronomy Now

Until now, scientists have determined the mass of stars, planets and moons by studying their motion in relation to others nearby, using the gravitational pull between the two as the basis for their calculations. However, in the case of young pulsars, mathematicians at the University of Southampton have now found a new way to measure their mass — even if a star exists on its own in space.