LOFAR Array Produces First Quasar Image

Both the Max Planck Institute for Radioastronomy (Bonn) and the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (Garching) run stations of the International LOFAR telescope (ILT), coordinated by ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy. By connecting the German LOFAR stations with the central stations in the Netherlands, an international group of scientists led by Olaf Wucknitz from the Argelander Institute of Astronomy (AIfA) at Bonn University has now produced the first high-resolution image of a distant quasar at meter radio wavelengths.

This wavelength range has not been accessible to such detailed observations before, as the telescopes have to be spaced far apart. The first image showing fine details of the quasar 3C 196 observed at wavelengths between 4 and 10 m was achieved by using just a small fraction of the final LOFAR array that will cover large parts of Europe.

After first tests of the individual antennas, the observations now bring together eight stations of the "LOw Frequency ARray" (LOFAR), Five stations in the Netherlands were connected with three stations in Germany: Effelsberg near Bonn, Tautenburg near Jena and Unterweilenbach near Munich. …