LOFAR, the World's Biggest Telescope, Is Up and Running

HansonMB writes with this bit from Motherboard: "Back in September, Motherboard ventured into the English countryside to listen to the universe. There lives a brand new piece of Europe's already-massive Low Frequency Radio Array radio telescope: a clever EU-wide installation that uses low-tech antennas and supercomputer-power data processing to transform into a giant mega-telescope, absorbing cosmic radio waves from the full sky." That was then; now, says the article, "In the past month, using signals from the new station, LOFAR has delivered its first EU-UK radio 'pictures.'"

Comments

Not only that, but . . .

[Seumas]

Not only is LOFAR up and running, but it beat out the competing project HINEAR, in record time!

Re:Not only that, but . . .

[Anonymous Coward]

What is this HINEAR you speak of, or are google search results really just that trashy?

Re:Not only that, but . . .

[Anonymous Coward]

I looked at that first results and thought it was a My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic reference.

I was disappointed to find it wasn't.

Re:Not only that, but . . .

[Anonymous Coward]

LO-FAR is to HI-NEAR

as

WOOSH is to, umm, the opposite of your post.

my prediction

[deathcow]

LOFAR will find a stream of information from an extraterrestrial source. When we decode it, we'll find that it's archives of extraterrestrial warez.

Re:my prediction

[MancunianMaskMan]

LOFAR will find a stream of information from an extraterrestrial source. When we decode it, we'll find that it's archives of extraterrestrial warez.

at which point the MPAA will be sueing the whole galaxy...

Re:my prediction

[AliasMarlowe]

LOFAR will find a stream of information from an extraterrestrial source. When we decode it, we'll find that it's archives of extraterrestrial warez.

Or alien pr0n. Which might be less fascinating than we hope
It is unlikely that real aliens resemble humans in dorky Hollywood outfits.

Re:my prediction

[Confusador]

To be fair, it's probably differently fascinating than we hope.

Re:my prediction

[outsider007]

It couldn't be much weirder than the japanese stuff.

Re:my prediction

[__aapspi39]

Well if you don't find the actual and brutal reality of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq9IKsH9BXg at least a little bit exciting then SETI is not for you.

Re:my prediction

[aplusjimages]

Nah, it will just say "frist post"

Re:my prediction

[Bucc5062]

I was horrified, I was electrified, I was shocked!!!! Even worse, now I want to watch the whole documentary on space aliens and their impact on Earth humans, especially the sultry ones, with some popcorn on a raining day. Damn you for infecting my brain with such horror.

Re:my prediction

[agw]

So, you don't do back-ups, you just broadcast your data into space and hope some other civilization does something like SETI? How do you get the data back and how long will that take?

Re:my prediction

[Anonymous Coward]

http://alienporn.net/

Re:my prediction

[tonique]

Audiogalaxy?
Ares Galaxy?

Re:my prediction

[davester666]

No, it's using space as a backup medium.

You broadcast your data in a specific direction [which travels at light-speed], and then use your FTL spaceship to get ahead of the beam after several hundred years to retrieve the data.

EU-UK?

[Anonymous Coward]

LOFAR has delivered its first EU-UK radio 'pictures.'

What the hell is "EU-UK" supposed to mean? Did the Conservatives pass a bill without anyone noticing or something?

Re:EU-UK?

[Spad]

In addition to being an initialism for European Union, EU is also a shorthand for Europe.

Re:EU-UK?

[pipatron]

So not only did the conservatives remove UK from the EU, they now cut it off from europe and let it free to roam in the atlantic ocean?

Re:EU-UK?

[Spad]

Traditionally, the UK & Northern Ireland aren't considered as "Europe" in a similar way to Norway/Sweden/Finland

Re:EU-UK?

[chichilalescu]

in which tradition? the Europe I know of contains the British Islands, and meets Asia at the Ural mountains.

Re:EU-UK?

[pacinpm]

Oh, really?
PS. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe

Re:EU-UK?

[lxs]

The Great British tradition of considering themselves superior to and different from the rest of the world. (To be fair, that is mostly an English trait)

Re:EU-UK?

[wvmarle]

What you forget to mention is that the UK is a country which is part of Europe, but it's also a member of the European Union.

Re:EU-UK?

[xaxa]

in which tradition? the Europe I know of contains the British Islands, and meets Asia at the Ural mountains.

It completely depends on context.

If I'm in Britain, and I say to someone I'm thinking of taking a holiday in Europe then it means I'm not going to the UK or Ireland (since I'd say I was going to e.g. Wales). I'm going to multiple countries, otherwise I'd just name the country.

If I say "Europe is going to have do X because China's doing Y" that includes the UK and Ireland. It might mean just the EU (or EEA, EC, ...), rather than the continent.

If I'm speaking to someone who isn't European, or if I'm not in Europe, then the UK is included when I say "Europe".

Some British people don't like the EU. It's usually obvious whether they include the UK when they say "Europe", and will depend on whether they're comparing football to baseball, or regurgitating what they read in the Daily Mail.

(FWIW, I've been "to America" four times. Two of those trips included Canada as well as the USA, but I don't usually mention that unless questioned further. Canadians might not like that.)

Re:EU-UK?

[Anonymous Coward]

Traditionally Northern Ireland is part of the UK.

Re:EU-UK?

[Carewolf]

Not part of "Continental Europe". Nobody would claim they are not part of Europe.

Re:EU-UK?

[chichilalescu]

I understand it depends on context. But for this particular story, saying "EU-UK" seems kind of stupid. Everything started in the Netherlands, and it involves a bunch of countries from Europe. In fact, they're all from the EU, so that would be enough. I can see that this title is the submitter's contribution, anyway, as the original article specifically uses "EU-wide".

Regarding your trips to "America": if you told me that, I would assume you were talking about a trip that included latin America. I expect people to use "US/States" and "Canada", or North America if they mean both (by the way, I assume Mexicans wouldn't like that...). If you were talking about visiting specific geographic points of interest, I would expect to hear "Rockies/Andes/Amazon/...", not necessarily the name of a country.

Re:EU-UK?

[Baron_Yam]

Canada, with 10% of the U.S.A.'s population, lined up right against the border and overwhelmed by their southern neighbour's television, music, and economics... well, we tend to like differentiating ourself whenever possible.

You can go 'to the Americas' which would mean North, South, and Central America... That'd be a bit of a trip.

'America' singular is generally taken to mean the United States of America only and to include Canada in that instead of mentioning it separately would be likely be taken either as a sign of your ignorance or an insult, depending. Mind you, I mean 'ignorance' in the literal sense, not as a slight.

Re:EU-UK?

[Taibhsear]

Hey, hey, nobody beats the US in considering themselves superior to the rest of the world. America! Fuck Yeah!
"I learned it from watching you! (UK)"

(probably just dated myself on that last quote...)

Re:EU-UK?

[dave420]

No, Northern Ireland is part of the UK regardless of tradition or not. It's a well-defined political term that specifically includes Northern Ireland.

Re:EU-UK?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not totally unlike the USofAian tradition of considering themselves "The America" or even "The World"

Re:EU-UK?

[tonique]

Finns will say they live in Europe. However, Europe (especially the EU) is sometimes contrasted with Finland. This was particularly notable when Finland was going to join the EU. Also now, when populistic EU-critical groups have become more popular recently.

There is also the term "manner-Eurooppa", ie. 'continental Europe', which doesn't include Finland, Norway or Sweden. The UK isn't part of that either but Denmark probably is.

Re:EU-UK?

[fast turtle]

What the idiot submitter meant was the UK section of the EU LOFAR antenna had been expanded, which I understood automatically. It's like talking about MS. Which effen division of MS are you talking about? India? EU? Japan? China? NorAm (North America)? S. America? What division?

That's what I understood the poster to mean. Of course, I also speak Amglish instead of the Queen's English and yes I'm one of those revolting colonists

Re:EU-UK?

[LWATCDR]

Funny but a lot of Mexicans I know like to point out that they are Americans because Mexico is part of North America. As a US citizen a actually tired to stop using American when I was referring to my nationality out of respect for Mexico and Canada and all the rest of the nations of North and South America. Interesting the differences in perception.
BTW Canada is a great nation and I am glad we share a boarder with you guys. I have been to Windsor on business and went to Victoria for my honeymoon. I hope you do not take offense to this but it was great because everyone was so friendly I felt like was right at home. Frankly I felt more at home there than I did in Detroit, LA, or New York City.

Re:EU-UK?

[Anonymous Coward]

We have good reason to believe this. ;-)

Re:EU-UK?

[boristhespider]

It's even written clearly on passports as "the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". I think it would be quite tough for someone to claim it's only traditionally linked with the UK. Linked with Great Britain, now, that's a different matter - Northern Ireland isn't in Great Britain but we'd habitually call the Northern Irish "British" even though in an absurdly pedantic manner of thinking, they're not. Although you could swing it by pointing out that Ireland is part of the British Isles - which would then piss off the Irish because that would allow them to be called "British" too.

We've made a merry mess of our islands. I'll never cease to find it both entertaining and rather depressing.

Re:EU-UK?

[M. Baranczak]

The Great British tradition of considering themselves superior to and different from the rest of the world.

Are there any countries at all that don't consider themselves "superior to and different from the rest of the world"?

Re:EU-UK?

[Anonymous Coward]

Outwardly, humble Canada.
Inwardly, we consider ourselves superior.

Re:EU-UK?

[Anonymous Coward]

I knov manny norvegians and svedes vho vould say you are vronk! (The finns don't say much. They are a strange kind.)

*Bork bork bork bork*

Re:EU-UK?

[treeves]

"I'm one of those revolting colonists"

Up with colons!!

Re:EU-UK?

[dave420]

True indeed. I must pick you up on something, though: "British" can mean "from Britain", where "Britain" is a synonym of "United Kingdom", meaning Northern Ireland is British, but not in Great Britain. Messy indeed :)

Re:EU-UK?

[boristhespider]

I'd say that might be debatable - that comes from common usage. If we're being lunatically pedantic I don't think we can use "Britain" as a synonym of "United Kingdom". Though I highly doubt all that many Northern Irish people are gonna care too much, unless they'd be... unreasonable... about it all. :)

That's one big shortwave

[atari2600a]

I wonder if they've used it to tune in BBC Radio 4's LW broadcast at 198kHz...

Re:That's one big shortwave

[Anonymous Coward]

LOFAR antenna work just above and just below the FM radio bands (the black boxes - HBAs - work at higher freqs, and the spindly things - LBAs - work at lower freqs). What's more LOFAR electronics are designed to supress radiation in the FM frequencies because they are so enourmous compared to the astronomical signals we're looking for.

Name Change:

[Anonymous Coward]

SOFAR

ROFL

[crossword.bob]

Am I alone in thinking that LOFAR has just read something hilarious?

For actual information ...

[dtmos]

... instead of a PR puff piece, see the LOFAR web site.

Good..

[Rexdude]

..they haven't been LO-FING around!

Re:Good..

[outsider007]

The '70s just called. They want their sense of humor back.

Re:Good..

[orangesquid]

Or:
"LOAFER, the World's Laziest Telescope, Is Finally Up and Out of Bed... Oh, Wait, it went back to bed. Never mind!"

Re:Good..

[treeves]

The 90s just called. They want their 'X just called and wants its Y back' jokes back.

Not simply in the UK

[Neil Boekend]

If the summary had pointed us to the correct website the few who read the article itself would have seen the lofar isn't simply in the UK. The LOFAR is to big for that. There is one substation in the UK, most are in the Netherlands (since the center is there), some are in Germany, one in France and one in Sweden. These substations are assembled in a giant phased array by means of a supercomputer. This array can look at multiple parts of the sky at the same time while having a great resolution in low frequencies.

Re:Not simply in the UK

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, but you have to realise that the British never like to give any credit to the Dutch for anything...

  - The world's largest radiotelescope is based in the Netherlands.
  - The world's highest rate of cycling is in the Netherlands.
  - The Dutch crime rate is so low that they're having to import prisoners from other countries to avoid making prison officers redundant.
  - The Dutch manage to be the world's second largest agricultural exporter despite having just 0.03% of the world's land.
  - Dutch roads are the safest in the world.
  - Dutch obesity rates are amongst the world's lowest.
  - Teenage pregnancy rate is amongst the world's lowest.
  - Drug abuse rates are amongst the world's lowest...
  - Dutch children are the happiest in the world.

However, Britain prefers to defer to the US for advice on all these things...

Re:Not simply in the UK

[boristhespider]

One of the most interesting consequences is that they can save data from each of the receivers (given enough storage; I worked briefly on the LOFAR data storage and it's a big problem since there's terabyte upon terabyte of data flooding off these things and you'd rapidly run out of space if you kept it all for too long) and then basically point a radio telescope *in software*. The stations themselves have absolutely no pointing at all, they really are just dumb receivers. But with the data put onto a computer you can point around virtually, at a beautiful resolution.

Yes, that's more or less what you said, but I find it fascinating and I said it in a slightly different way :)

Re:Not simply in the UK

[Anonymous Coward]

Observing the same thing from multiple points and combining the images over the Internet doesn't give you better resolution. To beat the diffraction limit you need to combine light from multiple places while it's still a wavefunction and *then* observe it.

Re:Not simply in the UK

[Anonymous Coward]

If you're not trolling, go and read up on interferometry before you spew your ignorance on Slashdot.

Re:Not simply in the UK

[OeLeWaPpErKe]

He's right, in a way. The mistake is in which subject we're talking about : LOFAR isn't trying to approach the diffraction limit at all. It's simply looking at the same signal from multiple vantage points, producing a picture from that.

In general, diffraction limit is a problem when trying to observe things that are comparable in size to a light wavelength of light, or smaller. Galaxies, stars and planets (for any reasonable frequency) are obviously much bigger than a wavelength. If you're trying to take pictures from parts of individual molecules or atoms, then you'll run into the diffraction limit.

Re:Not simply in the UK

[Anonymous Coward]

Umm.. OK. You do realise at least two of those links you gave are from British sources, right? Therefore directly contradicting your initial premise. I guess logic isn't one of the Dutch people's strengths.

Re:Not simply in the UK

[Neil Boekend]

While most of your items are true, we also have Geert Wilders. The appearance of that fucker is bad enough to compensate for a lot on your list and I hope we are smart enough to prevent him from getting power in the same way and extent Hitler did. My hope is slim, since people are stupid.

Re:Not simply in the UK

[sznupi]

So neutron stars are out... :/

;)

Observers of the Earth

[Ragzouken]

His strength is a legend, his skills conquer all, Armed with his power, we never will fall! LOFAR!

Re:Observers of the Earth

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought it was LOFAR of the hill people.

What better place to observe the Earth?

"LOFAR". ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Wait, if it's " low frequency radio array telescope ", wouldn't it be "LOFART"?

Don't blame me, but they're the ones who chose the name, I'm just sayin'.

Re:"LOFAR". ?

[Rich0]

Yup, especially since LOFAR used to refer to a type of sonobouy used by the US Navy... It probably is still in use (although those were older designs even in the 80s/90s - so maybe they moved on).

I Wanna Love You Tender

[kevingolding2001]

Unfortunately, the first EU-UK radio 'pictures.' it delivered was this.

Larger than the VLBA?

[gblackwo]

I haven't got the time to check- about to head out the door.
VLBA

Re:Larger than the VLBA?

[Anonymous Coward]

In some ways yes - in other no. See here: http://blog.lofar-uk.org/2011/02/lofar-largest-telescope-in-world.html

By the way I'm new to slashdot and trying not to reply annoymously by every time I login in the site dumps me out again. :( I'm Karen Masters - and I run the blog for LOFAR-UK (among other things). I wrote that post above.

Re:Larger than the VLBA?

[Bucc5062]

Are you sure you have a current geek card? Have you boned up and passed the test for required /. memes? Do you live in a basement?

Try this, "I for one welcome our FAR seeing overlords". If that makes sense then contact cowboy neal and demand access. If not, keep studying.

Re:Larger than the VLBA?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think the fact I've not been on slashdot much before proves I don't have the geek card right? On the other hand I do have a PhD in astronomy, so..... my login still not working for this article though (Karen Masters)

Re:Larger than the VLBA?

[marcosdumay]

Are you accepting cookies from /.?

Re:Larger than the VLBA?

[gblackwo]

That is a good post. I didn't realize the specs of the European VLBI surpassed that of the VLBA- because all the information on the E. VLBI I've ever seen has been poorly documented.
I realize now you are reigning king of the hill in terms of collecting area and sensitivity, but not resolution.

Re:Larger than the VLBA?

[DMiax]

Accepting cookies may help. I know that some proxies used at universities some times log you out slashdot.

Re:Larger than the VLBA?

[treeves]

I would expect that obtaining a PhD in Astronomy requires enough exposure to math and computers to grant you more than enough geek cred. Welcome to Slashdot.
Try posting an obligatory xkcd link. Maybe that one about the gravity wells in the solar system. Extra credit for scientifically critiquing it. ;-)

Re:Larger than the VLBA?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah I am accepting cookies - although I appreciate that must be what the problem is. I will figure this out slashdot! I will earn my "geek card"! ;)

Karen Masters (still trying not to be annonymous).

Re:Larger than the VLBA?

[Karen Masters]

Hooray I'm in! Apparently I needed to log out of slashdot.org then in to foo.slashdot.org in order for the cookies to be happy. Yes I can read FAQs and not annoy the help team. I feel I have now earned my right to be here! ;)

Jocelyn Bell

[HuguesT]

Interesting to hear Jocelyn Bell in this short video.

She is the lady, who as a grad student discovered pulsars. Her supervisor, Anthony Hewish, got awarded the Nobel prize for it together with Martin Ryle, but not she. To be fair, Hewish had co-invented the radio-telescope modality (aperture synthesis) that made the discovery possible. Nonetheless this spectacular discovery certainly contributed to his Nobel prize.

Ms Bell is quite famous in radioastronomy circles and has done lots of good work.

Re:Jocelyn Bell

[Anonymous Coward]

Ms Bell is quite famous in radioastronomy circles and has done lots of good work.

Not to mention Ma Bell

Re:Jocelyn Bell

[Karen Masters]

Great comment, except it should probably by Prof. Bell (or at the least Dr. Bell). She's worked hard for those titles.

Aricibo?

[Anonymous Coward]

When did the Aricibo antenna get moved to the UK?!?

Re:Aricibo?

[dave420]

It didn't. The Arecibo telescope has a collection dish with a radius of 305m, whereas this new array has a collection area of about 1 square Kilometre.

Re:Aricibo?

[Anonymous Coward]

In the movie there is an image of Arecibo while the narrator is talking about stuff in the UK. Swoosh

Now the real question is...

[youn]

How likely is it to catch a Extraterrestrial bimbo sunbathing nude with that :)

LOFAR...

[giltnerj0]

Of the Hill People ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Uc3jMgvmC8

Re:LOFAR...

[Anonymous Coward]

Damnit, I had hoped no one posted this yet. LOL

Re:LOFAR...

[Grizzley9]

Of the Hill People ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Uc3jMgvmC8

Came here looking for this. I was not teh disappoint.

headline needs to clarify "largest"

[v1]

The most common interpretation of this is going to be "overall visible mass". Brings up images of those monster dishes.

But of course this is referring to "largest DISTRIBUTED antenna system". While I realize this is one way to say it, that's like me telling someone I have the "largest computer in the world" because I have three PCs networked together, one in the USA, one in Netherlands, and one in Australia.

If you're going to say "largest", don't be such a headline whore and at least throw in "distributed" somewhere in the headline. "Most widely distributed" actually is closer on the mark.

Re:headline needs to clarify "largest"

[dave420]

You've misinterpreted the situation. A more apt analogy would be someone claiming to have the largest computer because it has the largest number of cores, not because individual cores are spaced far apart. The collecting area is about 1 square Kilometre, which is the largest of all radiotelescopes.

This happened to my refrigerator

[Anonymous Coward]

Quick somebody catch it!

Moat

[StikyPad]

Their telescope so old they built a moat around it? I wonder if there are crocodiles.

LOFAR, of the hill people!

[ryanisflyboy]

Much have I have seen, and much have I done, for I am LOFAR of the Hill People!

You know, I will do battle with my telescope, and lose. I will do battle with my telescope, and win.. and yet, I still lose! And I am supposed to feel great sorrow for it! I swear, by Zeena's teats, if I had my telescope's advantage on the field of war, I would be a god.

Re:LOFAR, of the hill people!

[raygundan]

I came to make sure this was covered. Good work, sir.

LOFAR?

[slapout]

LOFAR = Lord of the Far Away Rings?

"Europe is great, it's where we go to Win Wars."

[Anonymous Coward]

"Europe is great, it's where we go to Win Wars." (c) US/UK