Meet the LOFAR radio telescope, which goes back to the beginning of time.
This radio telescope does not look like the structures known from the movies. Instead of a huge steel bowl, there are fields filled with simple antennas scattered over many parts of Europe. Together they form a large receiver called LOFAR. It helps hunt for pulsars, study black holes, and reach back to when the first stars were born.
A single LOFAR station (LOw Frequency ARray) covers an area about the size of a football field. In comparison with a radio telescope such as Arecibo, it looks very inconspicuous. No huge bowls, no heavy mechanisms, and no complicated moving systems. Just two circular fields, and on them 96 antennas and 96 Styrofoam boxes.
LOFAR radio telescope — where is it located?
This seemingly simple structure has enormous capabilities. LOFAR radio telescope collects terabytes of data per hour and reaches places where not long ago technology did not reach — almost to the dawn of time.
There are currently 53 such stations in Europe, with two more planned and under construction. LOFAR is the largest radio telescope in Europe.
Each LOFAR field included in the system contains two sets of antennas. The first one resembles poles driven into the center of the trusses and…
