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Over the next few days at the University of Warmia and Mazury, astronomers will be discussing, among other things, space weather, observations of stars and pulsars, and the study of the most distant objects at the edge of the known universe.
According to a spokesman for the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Lukasz Staniszewski, the LOFAR Family Meeting is a scientific conference that brings together radio astronomers from around the world who use the results of observations made with the LOw Frequencyy ARray radio telescope in their research. This unique instrument, made up of separate elements located in several European countries, works on the principle of a radio interferometer, although each element is in fact an extremely complex system of antennas.
More than 160 space researchers from around the world have confirmed their participation in the conference organised at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn. The programme of the conference, scheduled for 12-16 June, will include a number of thematic sessions during which participants will present the directions of LOFAR research development, as well as present the results of their observations and research.
Participants of the conference will come to the capital of Warmia and Mazury from all European countries functioning in the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT) consortium: The Netherlands, Germany, Poland, the UK, France, Sweden, France, Ireland, Latvia, Italy, Bulgaria and Belgium.
LOFAR is an instrument that allows a very wide range of astrophysical issues to be explored, so the conference topics will include: space weather and solar studies, measurements of the interstellar medium, results from observations of stars, including very exotic pulsars, but above all results from observations of the most distant objects in the known Universe, radio galaxies and quasars, which is extremely important in understanding cosmological topics.
Of the 54 stations in the LOFAR system, three are located in Poland. One of them is owned by the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, and was built in Bałdy. All European stations carry out observations as part of the European ILT consortium.
The Polish national consortium POLFAR (Polish Low Frequency ARray) brings together 9 scientific institutions involved in space research: UWM Olsztyn, UJ Krakow, CBK PAN Warsaw, PSNC Poznan, University of Zielona Gora, UMK Toruń, CAMK Warsaw/Toruń, University of Szczecin and Wroclaw University of Life Sciences.
Some of the research results will be presented in the form of posters, dozens of which will decorate the UWM Conference Centre in Olsztyn for the duration of the conference.
The LOFAR Family Meeting is part of the celebrations of the Year of Nicolaus Copernicus, which is why a special meeting has been planned at the Warmia Chapter Castle, during which a profile of the great Polish Astronomer will be presented.