LOFAR

LOFAR is a brand-new, uniquely powerful telescope for highly flexible observations at low radio frequencies, 10-240 MHz, where it offers a sensitivity orders of magnitude better than that of previous telescopes: around 50 microJy at 150 MHz (1 mJy at 75 MHz) in just 1 hour of integration time. LOFAR is the first generation of so-called "software telescopes" - its high sensitivity, huge (multiple) field-of-view capability and data "playback" facilities, promise to make it nothing less than a transformational instrument for radio astronomy. ASTRON leads a consortium of national and international partners that have developed and are now constructing LOFAR.

With 20 LOFAR stations on the ground by early 2009, and full operations (40 stations) a year later, it is highly important to begin offering access and appropriate support levels to these users from across Europe as soon as FP7-RadioNet TNA funding starts, and then to ramp it up in future years. Support is proposed here for 50, 125 and 225 hours in 2009, 2010 and 2011.