A very brief description of LOFAR - the Low Frequency Array

• Published in: arXiv.org 2006-10
• Main Authors: Falcke, H, van Haarlem, M P, de Bruyn, A G, Braun, R, Röttgering, H J A, Stappers, B, W H W M Boland, Butcher, H R, de Geus, E J, Koopmans, L, Fender, R, Kuijpers, J, Miley, G K, Schilizzi, R T, Vogt, C, R A M J Wijers, Wise, M, Brouw, W N, Hamaker, J P, Noordam, J E, Oosterloo, T, Bähren, L, Brentjens, M A, Wijnholds, S J, Bregman, J D, van Cappellen, W A, Gunst, A W, Kant, G W, Reitsma, J, van der Schaaf, K, de Vos, C M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Apertures; Arrays; Beamforming; Cosmic rays; Extrasolar planets; Frequency ranges; Galaxies; Gamma ray bursts; Gamma rays; Ionization; LOFAR; Low frequencies; Neutrinos; Planet detection; Radio astronomy; Radio sources (astronomy); Radio telescopes; Sky surveys (astronomy); Telescopes; Universe; X ray binaries; X ray stars
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.0610652

LOFAR (Low Frequency Array) is an innovative radio telescope optimized for the frequency range 30-240 MHz. The telescope is realized as a phased aperture array without any moving parts. Digital beam forming allows the telescope to point to any part of the sky within a second. Transient buffering makes retrospective imaging of explosive short-term events possible. The scientific focus of LOFAR will initially be on four key science projects (KSPs): 1) detection of the formation of the very first stars and galaxies in the universe during the so-called epoch of reionization by measuring the power spectrum of the neutral hydrogen 21-cm line (Shaver et al. 1999) on the ~5' scale; 2) low-frequency surveys of the sky with of order \(10^8\) expected new sources; 3) all-sky monitoring and detection of transient radio sources such as gamma-ray bursts, x-ray binaries, and exo-planets (Farrell et al. 2004); and 4) radio detection of ultra-high energy cosmic rays and neutrinos (Falcke & Gorham 2003) allowing for the first time access to particles beyond 10^21 eV (Scholten et al. 2006). Apart from the KSPs open access for smaller projects is also planned. Here we give a brief description of the telescope.