Jan.06
Effelsberg first LOFAR outstation & German LOFAR developments

At the end of October 2005, the Max-Planck-Society granted funding for a LOFAR antenna station in Effelsberg (the radio observatory of the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie (MPIfR) in Bonn). Together with an earlier pledge to provide a wide band data transport link to the observatory, the expansion of the LOFAR network outside the Netherlands is becoming reality.

In the beginning of December 2005, a delegation from ASTRON visited the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie in Bonn and got a first glance at the potential LOFAR station site which is close to the Effelsberg telescope.

A plan for a total twelve LOFAR stations at sites in Germany - of which six are planned in more detail already - met an enthusiastic response at the annual autumn meeting of the Astronomische Gesellschaft in Cologne at the end of September 2005. Discussions with various funding agencies in the country have started in earnest and additional grants are expected in the course of 2006.

Pictures
(click to enlarge)

Locations of the eight planned LOFAR stations in Germany and the location of the LOFAR core in Exloo, Netherlands. © AIP Potsdam, Grafik:D.Lehmann, AIP

An overview of the Effelsberg site. This picture is taken at the upper south of the site, with an overview of the possible LOFAR site and, of course, the Effelsberg telescope. Pict. M. Bentum

An overview of the LOFAR site, taken from the 50 meter platform at the Effelsberg Telescope. Pict. by M. Bentum

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German LOFAR White Paper

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