Welcome back!

We have a few things in the pipeline that are nearly ready to be released and excited to share with you!

  1. AstroLands Academy

  2. Monitoring Website

  3. CPD resources

AstroLands Academy

Next week we are running our Astrolands Academy on the 18th & 19th August. This is aimed at 16-18 year olds. In this 2 day event we will explore what Astrophysics is all about! It will be an exclusive opportunity for students to chat to professors and college students about studying astrophysics and the pathways into the sector. Sign up at: lofar.ie/astrocamps !

Monitoring Website

Since the start of the internship I have been working on a website which will produce plots in real time of the data being collected by I-LOFAR. After much hard work we are nearly done with the project, there are a few more tweaks needed but the website is now functional!

Layout of monitoring website

On top of showing real time plots, the website provides status plots for the antennae and information about the telescope such as the temperature of the computers or whether it is in local or international mode.

International mode is when the telescope in Birr is connected to the overall network of telescopes around Europe and all stations work together to observe the same things. But one or two days a week the telescope is in local mode whereby our researchers can use the Birr telescope to carry out their own research and observe the astrophysical objects of their choice. 

Map of the International Lofar Network

CPD Resources

Amy has been working really hard on making CPD resources for teachers to use. She is nearly finished on the project and we are excited to announce that, very soon, these will be made available on our website to be viewed and downloaded for free.

Check back in next week to see who we have lined up to talk at our Academy!

Blog post written by Nathan Simoncini