Lesson plan

Low-Frequency Array

The Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) is a large radio telescope, with an antenna network located mainly in the Netherlands, and spreading across 7 other European countries as of 2019. Originally designed and built by ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, it was first opened by Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands in 2010, and has since been operated by ASTRON on behalf first of the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT) partnership and now of the LOFAR ERIC by ASTRON. LOFAR consists of a vast array of omnidirectional antennas using a modern concept, in which the signals from the separate antennas are not connected directly electrically to act as a single large antenna, as they are in most array antennas. Instead, the LOFAR dipole antennas (of two types) are distributed in stations, within which the antenna signals can be partly combined in analogue electronics, then digitised, then combined again across the full station. This step-wise approach provides great flexibility in setting and rapidly changing the directional sensitivity on the sky of an antenna station. The data from all stations are then transported over fiber to a central digital processor, and combined in software to emulate a conventional radio telescope dish with a resolving power corresponding to the greatest distance between the antenna stations across Europe.…

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Article summary

The Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) is a large radio telescope, with an antenna network located mainly in the Netherlands, and spreading across 7 other European countries as of 2019. Originally designed and built by ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, it was first opened by Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands in 2010, and has since been operated by ASTRON on behalf first of the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT) partnership and now of the LOFAR ERIC by ASTRON. LOFAR consists of a vast array of omnidirectional antennas using a modern concept, in which the signals from the separate antennas are not connected directly electrically to act as a single large antenna, as they are in most array antennas. Instead, the LOFAR dipole antennas (of two types) are distributed in stations, within which the antenna signals can be partly combined in analogue electronics, then digitised, then combined again across the full station. This step-wise approach provides great flexibility in setting and rapidly changing the directional sensitivity on the sky of an antenna station. The data from all stations are then transported over fiber to a central digital processor, and combined in software to emulate a conventional radio telescope dish with a resolving power corresponding to the greatest distance between the antenna stations across Europe.…

Key claims

  1. area: 500 m — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the area is "500 m". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  4. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1370782982

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.