The Swedish LOFAR station is one of eight currently being planned and built in Europe. The stations complement the telescope’s core facility near Groningen in the Netherlands. Onsala’s LOFAR station consists of 192 small antennas which together collect radio waves from space. The signals which are registered are then transferred by fibre link to the Netherlands to be combined with data from the other stations. The station in Onsala increases the size of LOFAR’s telescope network. That means that it can see sharper than has previously been possible in such long-wavelength radio waves. Together with the stations in France, Germany and the UK, the even geographical distribution of stations ensures that LOFAR’s images will be even as well as sharp.

The LOFAR station in Onsala was inaugurated 26 September 2011.