NAM2013 Abstract Deadline Extended

The NAM2013 Abstract deadline has been extended to April 1st. Scientists working on LOFAR, who have not already done so, can still submit their abstract via the NAM2013 website to Session 16 on "First Science from LOFAR" (which is scheduled for 2.5 hours on the afternoon of Monday 1st July):

16. First science from LOFAR (NAM+UKSP+MIST)

Organisers:
Philip Best - Royal Observatoty Edinburgh
LOFAR-UK Management Committee

The International LOFAR Telescope is a next-generation software-driven low-frequency radio interferometer, which is opening up one of the few relatively unexplored windows in the electromagnetic spectrum, between 30 and 240 MHz. After an extended commissioning period, December 2012 saw the start of Cycle-0 science observations. These observations cover a very broad range of astrophysics, from cosmology to solar system studies, including the Epoch of Re-ionisation, pulsars, transient/variable sources, wide and deep surveys, cosmic rays, the origin of magnetic fields, and studies of the Sun and space weather. This parallel session will showcase the early science results from LOFAR Cycle-0 observing, as well as highlighting the current scientific and technical capabilities of the array, and forthcoming opportunities.

Hope to see you in St. Andrews!

LOFAR Sessions at UK National Astronomy Meeting

There will be a special session celebrating early science from LOFAR at the upcoming 2013 UK National Astronomy Meeting, to be held in St Andrews, Scotland, 1-5th July 2013.

Special session 16, on "First Science from LOFAR" has provisionally been scheduled for two 75 minute blocks for the Monday afternoon (1st July).

16. First science from LOFAR (NAM+UKSP+MIST)

Organisers:
Philip Best - Royal Observatoty Edinburgh
LOFAR-UK Management Committee

The International LOFAR Telescope is a next-generation software-driven low-frequency radio interferometer, which is opening up one of the few relatively unexplored windows in the electromagnetic spectrum, between 30 and 240 MHz. After an extended commissioning period, December 2012 saw the start of Cycle-0 science observations. These observations cover a very broad range of astrophysics, from cosmology to solar system studies, including the Epoch of Re-ionisation, pulsars, transient/variable sources, wide and deep surveys, cosmic rays, the origin of magnetic fields, and studies of the Sun and space weather. This parallel session will showcase the early science results from LOFAR Cycle-0 observing, as well as highlighting the current scientific and technical capabilities of the array, and forthcoming opportunities.

Abstracts for talks, or posters (note there is a limit of 2 abstracts per first author, only one of which can be requested as a talk), should be submitted via the NAM2013 Website, before 19th March 2013. 

LOFAR Session at NAM 2012

The UK National Astronomy Meeting, to be held in Manchester in March 2012 will host a session on "LOFAR, the LOw Frequency ARray: Ongoing Developments and Early Results" preliminarily scheduled for 10am on Thursday 29th March 2012.

This session will be run by LOFAR scientists, Mario M. Bisi (Institute of Mathematics and Physics, Aberystwyth University, UK), Michael W. Wise (Astronomy Group, ASTRON (Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy), The Netherlands), Philip Best (School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, UK), Benjamin W. Stappers (The School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester, UK), Peter T. Gallagher (School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland), and and Marcus Braggen (School of Engineering & Science, Jacobs University, Germany), the session has the following abstract:

"The LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR) is a next-generation radio telescope which utilises thousands of stationary dipoles and tiles to observe celestial phenomena. This session is intended for the broader community to learn about the developments of LOFAR including updates on the status of the system and its current scientific capabilities, the early science results from all aspects of its applications and operation, as well as the upcoming opportunities for general "open skies" observing.With its dense core array and interferometric baselines of up to 1,000 km, LOFAR has the potential to achieve both unparalleled sensitivity (sub-mJy) and spatial resolution (sub-arcsecond) in this largely-unexplored low-frequency radio regime (~10 MHz to 250 MHz). Areas of science which can be explored with LOFAR include, but are not limited to, the Epoch of Re-ionisation (EoR), Pulsars, Transients, Cosmic Rays, Magnetism, deep Extra-Galactic Surveys, and also studies of the Sun, the Solar Atmosphere/Solar Wind, Space Weather, and the Earth's Ionosphere. In summary, the session is designed for showcasing LOFAR's scientific potential and progress to date. The session should include a LOFAR overview and specifics of LOFAR commissioning, current status, scientific and technical capabilities, and upcoming opportunities. We solicit contributions from any/all of the science areas that will be covered by the observational capabilities of LOFAR."

LOFAR on the Jodcast

You can listen to me on the May 2011 Extra Jodcast talking about LOFAR (among other things). I'm the first interview in the podcast.

LOFAR in the Sky at Night Magazine Astronomy Vodcast

In this month's Astronomy vodcast from Sky at Night Magazine I talk with Wil Gater about the LOFAR project in general, LOFAR-UK, and the first peer reviewed science results from LOFAR.

LOFAR on the Naked Scientist Podcast

I discuss LOFAR and LOFAR-UK with Andrew Pontzen on the special National Astronomy Meeting edition of the Astronomy podcast for the Naked Scientists.

MP3 of just the LOFAR segment.

Link to the whole podcast (including a transcript).

LOFAR-UK at the UK National Astronomy Meeting

Anyone who follows LOFAR (or me) on Twitter probably knows that LOFAR has been well represented at the UK National Astronomy Meeting (NAM) taking place in Llandudno, Wales this week. LOFAR-UK decided to run an exhibit stand to try to educate the UK astronomical community about LOFAR in general and the UK involvement in LOFAR specifically.

Below is the picture of the stand we put up, with 3 large LOFAR-UK banner posters and LOFAR-UK bookmarks (made by SEPnet, who also provided some pencils, postcards and post-it notes to give out), a computer playng a DVD of some of the different LOFAR-UK videos we have on YouTube, brochures describing LOFAR in general (kindly provided by ASTRON), a leaflet about the Chilbolton observatory (provided by STFC), LOFAR-UK pens and post-it notes designed by yours truly, plus printouts of two of the recent press releases (First Light Including Chilbolton Station, and the First Peer Reviewed Science Result from LOFAR) and some other pictures.

Here's a picture of all the give-aways. The pens were a definite hit (described as the best freebie at NAM), and we have just a handful left to giveaway tomorrow (the last day of the meeting).

We also took along a demo low band antenna (LBA) which I'm holding in the below picture. We have used this to illustrate the technique behind putting up the antenna several times at coffee and lunch breaks, and also to the team from the Astronomy Now YouTube Channel. 

 There has been some definite interest, and I have given interviews about LOFAR (and LOFAR-UK) for the Jodcast, The Naked Scientist, the Sky at Night vodcast and Astronomy Now YouTube channel. So stay tuned for those.

 Other LOFAR related events at NAM included a talk by Christian Vocks on observing the Sun with LOFAR (with some interesting information on the Potsdam LOFAR station), plus a plenary lecture on EISCAT-3D (a project using some similar technology to LOFAR).

All in all I think it's gone very well, and I want to say thanks to all the members of the LOFAR-UK community who have helped me to "man the stand" this week. They have included Emma Rigby, Melanie Gendre, Lyndsay Fletcher, Rob Beswick, Somak Raychaudhury, Paul O'Brien and Paul Alexander.