Intech Science Centre and Planetarium Lecture

Digital Static : Hampshire's new world-class radio telescope

Were you aware that part of the world's newest and most powerful radio telescope is located in Hampshire?  Did you know that this telescope can switch the direction in which it is looking in less than one thousandth of a second?  And yet this telescope doesn't have any moving parts!

This lecture introduces Hampshire's new facility, which is part of the LOFAR (Low-Frequency Array) network. It explains how this next-generation radio telescope actually works and the amazing story of its construction. Finally, it elaborates on the ambitious science programme that this telescope is undertaking and the first results that have already surprised us.

Derek McKay-Bukowski is an expert on deploying and commissioning radio telescope arrays. During 2010 he was responsible for building the LOFAR-UK radio telescope at Chilbolton and in 2011 for the construction of the LOFAR-Finland radio telescope at Kilpisjärvi. Currently based at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, he is working on the Square Kilometre Array and the EISCAT_3D atmospheric radar.

Please book tickets through Intech Science Centre and Planetarium by telephoning: +44 (0)1962 891 925.

Further details are available on the Intech website (link opens in a new window) (link opens in a new window).