It's in the post

Over the winter stores have been stock-piling at SGO headquarters near Sodankylä.

A stack of LBA posts. These will be for two 48-element LBA arrays.

Each post is approx. 1.8m long.

Polaria

Summer is here (almost!). We have had our first positive temperatures and snow has stopped falling (apart from yesterday). Yes, it is time to return to the sunny north and get stuck into the build programme for this summer. As per last year, we have lots of things planned and intend to follow the action with at least one post every 24 hours until the sun next sets (which at these latitudes is in Autumn!)

The institute on a lovely spring afternoon.

Welcome!

Loads more to follow!

Proposed site for the I-LOFAR station

Here is one last photograph before we leave the Emerald Isle and return to the cooler climes of the Arctic north. The proposal is to the build the Irish LOFAR station in a field within the castle grounds. The following panorama shows the field and the surrounding landscape.

Site of the future I-LOFAR station, Birr, Co Offaly, Ireland.

For those who are worried about the trees, don't panic! We have checked and all of them fall below the elevation clearances required by the ASTRON station requirements.

The Leviathan Telescope

Some more images from the I-LOFAR visit. As we have mentioned, Castle Birr has a fantastic astronomical history. The Leviathan Telescope (the largest in the world from 1845 until 1917) was responsible for some great discoveries. Several well-known celestial objects were named at the eyepiece of this magnificent instrument. Examples include the Whirlpool Galaxy and the Crab Nebula. But, for today, let's just admire the old fashioned architecture of this wonderful scientific instrument.

The elevation winch and service railway at the back of the telescope.

Note the old-fashioned timber gantries.

A side view showing off the crenellations. The winch in the foreground allows the telescope to slew in azimuth (although only over a limited range).

Another view. Note the castle itself in the background.

Another close-up of the 6-foot aperture.

Don't forget to click on the images to see enlargements. Enjoy! (And have a nice weekend!)

I-LOFAR castle reception

Here is some more news from the recent I-LOFAR meeting. On the first day there, there was a reception in the Castle. The 7th Earl of Rosse, and current occupant of the castle, delighted delegates with a lovely reception including a very brief introduction to the history of the castle, the Earls of Rosse and the area itself. The Earl was enthusiastic about the I-LOFAR project, and our Irish colleagues must be thrilled to have such fantastic support.

Arriving at the Castle. (Try to find another LOFAR station with such style!)

As this was the inauguration of the project at Birr Castle, the Earl thought it appropriate that his guests would sign the castle's visitor book.

Signing the visitors' book.

Yes, this is the original visitors' book. With cloth gloves for handling it, this volume was every bit as awe inspiring as it might sound.

The first entries

Among the entries are some very esteemed names. George Airy, William Herschel and, on the very first page, Charles Babbage. It is a strange twist of fate that brings together such great names, given that the LOFAR system, indeed, combines aperture physics, astronomical discovery and the power of computing to realise its potential.

Just another visitor?

And yes, much honoured and humbled, I was invited to sign the magnificent book as well. Let's hope that this inspiration will drive us (I-LOFAR and the LOFAR community in general) to accomplish this ambitious project and make future generations look upon those pages with even a tiny fraction of that which we have for our scientific predecessors.

Desmond to invest in radio telescope for Birr

Good news for the I-LOFAR proposal. Visionary Dermot Desmond will be contributing private investment, which will help kick-start the Irish LOFAR project.

www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0514/1224316063882.html

This is extremely welcome news and gives a valuable boost to this critical scientific project. Of course, we at KAIRA wish the Irish team every success and look forward to working with them in this exciting era of radio science.

ILTO-2012 meeting

Last month, there was an International LOFAR Telescope Operations (ILTO) meeting in Onsala, Sweden. It was held on 17/18 April 2012. This was a good opportunity to present the progress made so far with the KAIRA system to the rest of the LOFAR technical community. The meeting itself was held at the Onsala observatory, which is on the coast, just south of Gothenburg. Here are a few photographs from the visit.

In the distance is the 26m dish, which is used for VLBI, etc.

The radome with the other VLBI dish.

The LOFAR field (SE607)