Why have International Stations?

There's a nice item out online right now (see the Astronomy Now version) illustrating the benefit international stations like the one we're building at Chilbolton add to LOFAR. The article is describes the improvement in resolution seen between an image of a distant quasar taken by just the LOFAR core, and one taken using the core connected to two stations in Germany.

Here's the image.

Radio image of quasar 3C 196 at 4-10 metre wavelengths (30-80MHz frequency). Left: Data from the LOFAR stations in the Netherlands only. Right: Greater detail is revealed when the German stations are added to the array. Image: Olaf Wucknitz, Bonn University.

We're looking forward to seeing the first images taken including the Chilbolton station. But first we have to build it!