Introduction to Science, Operations and Data Analysis with an International LOFAR Station

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School of Physics, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. 

January 8-10, 2018

Summary

This workshop will introduce researchers to LOFAR single-station science, operations and data analysis. The workshop will cover many aspects of an International LOFAR Station, from the capabilities of the station hardware to the software pipelines and science products that it produces.

Hands-on lab sessions will give attendees an opportunity to gain experience with data from an international LOFAR station. Students, postdocs, and staff are all encouraged to attend.

This workshop is supported by the Institute of Physics in Ireland.

Registration

If you would like to attend, please email John Quinn (UCD Physics). Please note that a registration fee of €50 will be payable at the meeting.

Software

All tutorials will be given using the Python programming language (Python v3.6 and v2.7). We recommend that you run Python using Jupiter and/or Spyder, which can be installed using Anaconda. Further details on how to install these packages can be found here. An excellent introduction to Python for the analysis of astronomical data can be found at Python4Astronomers.

Internet Access

Wifi access will be provided via eduroam. Please ensure that you have registered for eduroam by contacting your IT services at your home institution before arriving in UCD.

Exercises

Schedule

  • Day 1 (Jan 8): LOFAR hardware and observing capabilities

10:00 – 10:30 Arrival and coffee 

10:30 – 10:45 Welcome and workshop goals [Quinn/Gallagher]

10:45 – 11:30 Overview of I-LOFAR [McCauley]

11:30 – 12:15 International LOFAR Station Hardware [McKay]

12:30 – 14:00 Lunch

14:00 – 14:45 Science with an International LOFAR Station [Greissmeier]

14:45 – 15:30 Observing with an International LOFAR Station [Bourke]

15:30 – 16:00 Coffee

16:00 – 16:45 LOFAR Station Transient Search Backends  [Foster]

16:45 – 17:30 Overview of ILT [Zucca]

19:00 Dinner at the RaddissonBlue Stillorgan.

  • Day 2 (Jan 9): Single station data analysis

09:00 – 10:00 Introduction to Single Station Data Analysis [McKay, Griessmeier, McCauley, Carley]

10:00 – 10:30 Distribution of sample data (dynamic spectra, all-sky maps, etc) and software set up 

10:30 – 11:00 Coffee

11:00 – 12:30 Data analysis talks/tutorials

12:30 – 14:00 Lunch

14:00 – 15:30 Data analysis lab

15:30 – 16:00 Coffee

16:00 – 18:00 Data analysis lab

  • Day 3 (Jan 10): Single station data analysis

09:00 – 13:00 Data analysis lab

Workshop Venue

The workshop will be held at University College Dublin (UCD), which is located about 4km south of Dublin city centre.

The meeting venue will be room 2.32 in the School of Physics (Science Centre North, Building 65). Here is a Google map with the meeting venue.

While UCD offers a wifi service without registration, it is quite restricted, and it is strongly recommended that you use eduroam.

Accommodation

There are many other options for accommodation in Dublin so we suggest investigating
using an online service such as hotels.com.

Getting to UCD

From Dublin Airport get the Aircoach route 700 (http://aircoach.ie/timetables/route-700-dublin-airport-leopardstownsandyford). The cost of a ticket is €10 single or €16 return. Pickup points are located at Dublin Airport Terminals 1 & 2. Buses run every 15 minutes and take
about 45 minutes to get to UCD.
The UCD drop-off stop is indicated by the blue coach symbol in grid A9 on the UCD Campus Map linked above, while the pickup point for going to the airport is indicated by the blue coach symbol in grid B7.
Note: this service may also be used to get to the hotels listed above- there are stops outside both the Talbot Hotel and RadissonBlu. For the Mespil hotel get of at Leeson Street Bridge and walk along the canal to the hotel.
From Dublin City Centre, UCD is well served by Dublin Bus with service 39a (http://dublinbus.ie/Your-Journey1/Timetables/All-Timetables/39a-3/) entering campus and services 46a (http://dublinbus.ie/Your-Journey1/Timetables/All-Timetables/46a-21/) and 145 (http://dublinbus.ie/Your-Journey1/Timetables/All-Timetables/145-/) passing UCD campus and continuing on to also pass the RaddisonBluu and Talbot hotels. The fare is €2.85 and only coins (exact fare, no change given) are accepted as cash payment (a LEAP card may also be purchased).
Further information is available from the UCD website.

Honorary Doctorates for World-Leaders in Astronomy

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This week, UCD and TCD awarded Honorary Doctorates to two leading individuals in the world of astronomy. Congratulations to both Prof. George Miley, one of the originators of the LOFAR radio telescope concept, and Ms. Naledi Pandor, a key player in the development of the Square Kilometre Array and astronomy in general in South Africa.

 

Naledi Pandor
As Minister of Science & Technology in South Africa (2009-2012, 2014-to date), Ms. Naledi Pandor has been a tireless champion for the cause of science and scientific research. She and her team successfully won a competitive bid for the siting of part of the future Square Kilometre Array (SKA) telescope in South Africa. This will be a transformative piece of global astronomy infrastructure into the next decade and one of the largest scientific endeavours in history. Ms. Pandor is a powerful and enduring advocate for the importance of education and science in moving Africa forward, empowering its citizens and inspiring its children.

 

George Kildare Miley Sc. D
George Miley is Emeritus Professor of Astronomy at Leiden University. His research area is distant radio galaxies. He has co-authored more than 350 refereed research papers and was involved in several fundamental discoveries. His distinctions include the Shell Oeuvre Prize, a professorship of the Netherlands Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences, an honorary fellowship of the UK Royal Astronomical Society and an asteroid named after him. In 2012 he received a Dutch knighthood for his services to astronomy and society. Miley has championed the use of astronomy as a unique tool for education and development, in particular for very young children and to stimulate international development. In 1997 he initiated the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), a revolutionary radio telescope, with stations spread over Europe, supporting the development of an all Ireland facility (I-LOFAR) at Birr Castle. Professor Miley was born and educated in Dublin, at Gonzaga College and UCD, and although he has spent most of his working life in The Netherlands, he retains an interest in the development of Irish astronomy and education and has offered practical support to Irish initiatives.

Members of the Dutch and Irish LOFAR teams under the watchful eye of the 3rd Earl of Rosse. Left to right: Prof. Huub Rottgering (Director of Leiden Observatory), Prof. Peter Gallagher (TCD Physics), Prof. George Miley (Leiden Observatory with his Honorary Degree from Trinity), and I-LOFAR PhD students at Trinity, Ciara Maguire and Pearse Murphy.