site.btaBulgaria to Build Southeast Europe's First LOFAR Radiotelescope Station by End-2026

Bulgaria will complete the construction of the first LOFAR (Low Frequency Array) radiotelescope antenna station in Southeastern Europe by the end of 2026, the Institute of Astronomy with a National Astronomical Observatory at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences said on Tuesday.

LOFAR is the world's largest and most sensitive telescope for low radio frequencies, consisting of 52 antenna stations strategically placed across eight European countries: the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, France, Ireland, Latvia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. An expansion with additional stations in Italy and Bulgaria is currently underway, the Institute said.

Research conducted with the LOFAR radiotelescope covers scientific fields such as solar physics, space weather, galaxy formation, pulsar physics, transient radio phenomena and cosmic magnetic fields.

Bulgaria is a co-founder of the European research infrastructure consortium LOFAR ERIC, created by the European Commission in December 2023 together with Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland. The LOFAR-BG project is funded under of the Bulgaria 2020-2027 National Roadmap for Research Infrastructure, coordinated by the Education and Science Ministry.

The LOFAR-BG antenna station is being built in the immediate vicinity of the Rozhen National Astronomical Observatory. The Institute of Astronomy will organize a summer internship on radio astronomy and on the construction of LOFAR-BG in 2026. The internship is intended for university students, doctoral candidates and young researchers interested in radio astronomy, physics and engineering, the Institute said.