The STELLAR Space Weather Workshop with a radio twist starts online today, July 12. It is part of the STELLAR H2020 project led by the Institute of Astronomy. The workshop is organised and led by our colleagues from the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies. For four days, Bulgarian and international students and scientists will learn important details about solar activity, its interactions with planets and interplanetary space, and how we can observe them in radio frequencies. Daily exercises in data analysis with Python are also included.
As part of the STELLAR project, DIAS will be hosting a workshop on space weather with a radio twist. This workshop will trace space weather phenomenon from their solar origins, propagation through the low corona, out into the heliosphere and finally possible interactions with planetary bodies. The workshop is aimed at early career stage researchers or those unfamiliar with space weather. The workshop will be held online between 12-15 July.
The LOFAR Data Processing School was hosted on 22-26 March 2021 online at ASTRON. The school provided a basic overview of the telescope and its science together with dedicated technical tutorials for data retrieval, pre-processing and visualisation.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the school was shaped into an online event. The processing school counted more than 120 participants worldwide including 16 staff members and students from IANAO and TUS. The attendees of the school received first-hand experience of the processing pipelines of LOFAR, and learned the basics of data reduction in hands-on workshops. IANAO and TUS staff got familiar with requesting and downloading data; they were introduced to the data formats and to the various softwares for flagging and calibrating the data.
An online platform with pre-recorded sessions and real-time tutorials replaced the physical presence at ASTRON. The platform consisted in several Zoom rooms plus a Slack messaging and video platform where all the different lectures, demos and tutorials could be followed, giving the possibility to ask questions and share answers with the participants.
In addition to the Slack and Zoom platform, information of the Data School was shared with the participants via a dedicated website https://www.astron.nl/lofarschool2021/. Here the recordings of the lectures may also be found, allowing students to re-watch the material if necessary.
The first activity of the STELLAR project took place in mid-February! The Introduction to Antennas course, originally planned to be held at ASTRON (in Dwingeloo, The Netherlands) for up to six people (faculty, researchers, and students) from the Institute of Astronomy (BAS) and the Technical University of Sofia, was transformed into an online course due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The course was attended by 57 participants from 13 research institutions!
The short course was held over Zoom, as three separate three-hour-long lectures. It was led by Dr. David Prinsloo of ASTRON – an expert in the design of antennas and antenna arrays for radio astronomy. Dr. Prinsloo is a researcher with the Smart Front-ends Group at the Innovations and Systems department of The Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy. His primary research interest is on antenna designs for both phased array and reflector-based radio telescopes.
The course participants learned the ins and outs of fundamental antenna parameters, basic antenna types, as well as antenna arrays. As the final module of the course, the students participated in the design of a realistic antenna array.
Christmas is coming, and with it – gifts! The Institute of Astronomy recently got a long-awaited shipment from The Netherlands – a huge crate with the test antennas for our future LOFAR-BG station 🙂
The large crate sent by ASTRON. We had to unmount a couple of doors…
The contents 🙂
After carefully unwrapping and checking the contents for damage, we delivered them to Assoc. Prof. Peter Petkov from the Radiocommunications Dept. of the Technical University-Sofia, for testing and preparing the measurement system. Our main goal is to measure the levels of radio noise (background) in the spectral bands of the low-frequency (10-90 MHz) and high-frequency (110-250 MHz) antennas of LOFAR at the pre-selected possible sites for the LOFAR-BG station.
The high-frequency (HBA) spider-like antenna at the lab.
Checking the system components at the lab; the low-frequency (LBA) antenna is at foreground.
After making sure the components were in order and assembling the test system, it was time for some real measurements! A great first place to start is always the parking lot in front of the University 🙂
IANAO PhD student Mohamed Nedal and Assoc. Prof. Peter Petkov from TU-Sofia taking measurements
The initial tests were successful, and very soon we will begin measurements on site. More news to come!
The LOFAR-BG infrastructure project, coordinated by the Institute of astronomy and National Astronomical Observatory (IANAO), was recently approved for inclusion into the updated National Roadmap for Scientific Infrastructure 2021-2027! We are very pleased with this successful outcome.
In the next 13 years, the project execution foresees the building and development of a Bulgarian observational station of the pan-European distributed LOFAR radio telescope, and the creation of human potential for carrying out specific astrophysical and geophysical research with the Bulgarian station and the entire LOFAR telescope.
In addition, the successful execution of this project will guarantee the development of scientific and engineering potential, of the capability for hardware and software maintenance of the LOFAR-BG station, of capability for processing and archiving of petabyte-scale volumes of observational data, and of new automated analysis methodologies via Artificial Intellect. The project foresees active partnerships and exchange of know-how with industry, as well as dissemination and outreach activities.
The LOFAR-BG station will position Bulgaria at the top of radioastronomical observing capabilities in Southeastern Europe. Maintaining and enriching further this unique research infrastructure will enable the development of innovative scientific and engineering topics in ICT (real-time signal processing, time series and image analysis with AI, data clustering and archiving), as well as transfer of scientific and technological know-how from international collaborations. An additional goal of the project is creation of spin-off companies in radio communications and ICT.
We would like to share the wonderful news that our project proposal “Scientific and Technological Excellence by Leveraging LOFAR Advancements in Radio Astronomy” (STELLAR) to the H2020-WIDESPREAD-05-2020-Twinning program has been approved by the European Commission with funding of nearly 900 000 Euro!
The STELLAR project duration will be three years. Its main goal is to increase the capability of Bulgarian astronomers and radio engineers to work with the LOFAR telescope. The Institute of Astronomy and National Astronomical Observatory (IANAO) will serve as coordinator of the project. The Technical University of Sofia (TUS) will also participate from the Bulgarian side. The international partners on the project will be the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) and the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON). They will prepare and carry out a number of training events in the Netherlands, Ireland, and Bulgaria, for Bulgarian astronomers and engineers.
The STELLAR project is part of a long-term strategy of IANAO to develop modern radio astronomy in Bulgaria, by providing access to the newest pan-European and worldwide observational infrastructures. It will help the small but dynamic radio astronomical community in Bulgaria to obtain and develop the necessary skills and expertise for successfully building, maintaining, and exploiting a Bulgarian LOFAR station. Apart from the training events, the project will include the realization of three open summer schools in Bulgaria – in radio astronomy, space weather, and radio technologies. It is expected that the STELLAR project will begin in September 2020.
We would like to share the wonderful news that our project proposal “Scientific and Technological Excellence by Leveraging LOFAR Advancements in Radio Astronomy” (STELLAR) to the H2020-WIDESPREAD-05-2020-Twinning program has been approved by the European Commission with funding of nearly 900 000 Euro!
The STELLAR project duration will be three years. Its main goal is to increase the capability of Bulgarian astronomers and radio engineers to work with the LOFAR telescope. The Institute of Astronomy and National Astronomical Observatory (IANAO) will serve as coordinator of the project. The Technical University of Sofia (TUS) will also participate from the Bulgarian side. The international partners on the project will be the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) and the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON). They will prepare and carry out a number of training events in the Netherlands, Ireland, and Bulgaria, for Bulgarian astronomers and engineers.
The STELLAR project is part of a long-term strategy of IANAO to develop modern radio astronomy in Bulgaria, by providing access to the newest pan-European and worldwide observational infrastructures. It will help the small but dynamic radio astronomical community in Bulgaria to obtain and develop the necessary skills and expertise for successfully building, maintaining, and exploiting a Bulgarian LOFAR station. Apart from the training events, the project will include the realization of three open summer schools in Bulgaria – in radio astronomy, space weather, and radio technologies. It is expected that the STELLAR project will begin in September 2020.
For everyone who was not able to take part in our seminar on the European radio telescope LOFAR in december, you can now watch a video of the presentations (English) as well as a discussion with the lecturers on how to fund and create such scientific infrastructures!
In the first presentation Dr. Rene Vermeulen, director of the International LOFAR telescope, ASTRON, The Netherlands, shared the scientific capabilities of the LOFAR telescope.
Dr. Carla Baldovin from ASTRON shared details on how the telescope is organized, what are the different partners and international consortia involved.
Professor Peter Gallagher from Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies (DIAS) recreated in his presentation the fascinating adventure of developing the Irish LOFAR station and consortium.
Dr. Eoin Carley from DIAS shared with the audience details on the science research I-LOFAR.
Mr. Mārcis Donerblics from Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Center (VIRAC) gave details on how the newest LOFAR station is Latvia is created.
Dr. Pietro Zucca from ASTRON presented the scientific discoveries of LOFAR in the field of heliophysics and space weather.
Аssoc. Prof. Kamen Kozarev from the Institute of Astronomy, Bulgarian Academy of Science (BAS) made a summary of the work done to initiate the Bulgarian LOFAR station and consortium.
The last part of the seminar was dedicated to a discussion on practical steps and experience in establishment and management of LOFAR telescope and its international stations.
On December 3rd, the seminar “LOFAR Radio Telescope – Advantages and Opportunities” was held, where we were visited by experts in radio astronomy from the Netherlands, Ireland and Latvia.
We discussed the possibilities of this exclusive distributed European telescope for exploring the universe and for enriching Bulgaria’s scientific infrastructures! Coming soon presentations and videos on this site!
We thank our colleagues from the Ministry of Education and Science and Minister Karina Angelieva for the participation, we also thank Sofia Tech Park for the hospitality!
