‘Beyond what we’d hoped’: international telescope in Australia captures first glimpse of the Universe
The first image from the international SKA Observatory’s telescope in Australia, SKA-Low, has been released – a significant milestone in its quest to reveal an unparalleled view of our Universe.
New Technology for Ultra-Fast Data Transfer: SURF and ASTRON Establish 400G Connection
SURF and ASTRON have implemented the OpenZR+ technology to establish a 400G network connection, significantly enhancing scientific research in the Netherlands.
Astronomers Astonished: Enigmatic Distant Radio Bursts Appear to be Neutron Stars
Using the radio telescope at Westerbork, The Netherlands, astronomers have discovered two dozen of the unexplained Fast Radio Bursts. After zooming in on the signal of the distant bursts, the astronomers found a striking similarity to the radio flashes emitted by nearby, known neutron stars. The discovery is remarkable because these nearby neutron stars already produce more energy than anything achievable on Earth. The distant stars that emit the Fast Radio Bursts must somehow generate an astounding one billion times more energy than the nearby ones.
European Pulsar Timing Array Wins Two Prestigious Awards
The European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) has been honored with two major awards for its groundbreaking work in gravitational wave astronomy. In 2024, the team received the International Congress of Basic Sciences (ICBS) Frontiers of Science Award in China, followed by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) Group Achievement Award in the United Kingdom in 2025.These accolades celebrate the team’s innovative use of pulsar timing to detect low-frequency gravitational waves. The EPTA is a collaborative effort involving scientists from more than ten institutions across Europe. ASTRON is one of the participating organisations in this project with its most sensitive radio telescope including the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope. (WSRT).
LOFAR2.0: PTS handover
© LOFAR2.0 team
The upgrade took place in July and September 2024 and their verification (when we test that the stations have been assembled correctly) was completed in February 2025. The next step after verification is the transfer to Telescope Operations, marking the start of commissioning. One of the goals of PTS was to prepare the rollout procedures; only if they are well defined and complete, can transfer the stations with confidence.
On March 26th, we held the PTS handover review. The rollout team was represented by Henri Meulman and the verification team by Menno Norden, Cees Bassa and Jun Wang. Boudewijn Hut (LOFAR2.0 system engineer), Marco Drost (head of Telescope operations), Andre Gunst (LOFAR2.0 system architect), Bernard Asabere (instrument scientist), Henk Mulder (telescope operator) and Michiel Brentjens (LOFAR2.0 commissioning lead) were invited as reviewers. The following points were discussed:
- Status of the hardware at the stations
- Installation process
- Post installation testing/checklist
- Station verification procedure
- Verification results of PTS
- Site acceptance report.
In a lively and collaborative atmosphere, we touched upon the most critical aspects and identified improvements. The conclusion: the team is well prepared to continue with the rollout. The happy faces say it all!
CASPER Workshop 2025
Mon 08 Sep 2025 - Fri 12 Sep 2025
The CASPER workshop is a semi-annual workshop where FPGA, GPU, and general heterogeneous system programmers get together to discuss new instruments in radio astronomy, as well as the tools and libraries for developing and manipulating these instruments.