LOFAR Information

Lofar is one of many examples of Onsala Space Observatory's increasing involvement in international projects. Chalmers is one of three international partners in the submillimetre telescope APEX in Chile, which recently discovered hydrogen peroxide in space. Last winter Chalmers delivered sensitive new receivers to the ALMA Observatory, the world's largest astronomy project, currently being built in Chile's Atacama desert. The observatory is also planning for the radio observatory SKA (Square Kilometre Array), to be built in Australia or South Africa, in which LOFAR's new technology will be developed even further. SKA is expected to give answers about the origins of both the universe itself and life in space. "Space research is also critical for our understanding of the earth and its climate, and it invariably leads to spin-off effects. International facilities like LOFAR foster strong cooperation across both scientific and cultural borders," says Karin Markides, President of Chalmers. "I believe LOFAR in particular will have great importance for our ability to handle very large amounts of data," she adds. During the inauguration ceremony at Onsala Space Observatory on Monday Minister of Education and Research Jan Björklund will take some of the first ever images of the sky with the Swedish LOFAR station. He will also visit the station together with around a hundred invited guests.