2021/09/30 by W. A. van Cappellen, Tom Oosterloo, T. A. Oosterloo +118
Engineering · Environmental Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Acoustics #Aperture (computer memory) #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Computer science #First light #Geology #Operating system #Optics #Particle Accelerators and Free-Electron Lasers #Phased array #Physics #Pulsar #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology #Radio astronomy #Radio telescope #Remote sensing #Sky #Software #Soil Moisture and Remote Sensing #Telecommunications #Telescope #Transient (computer programming) #Upgrade #astro-ph.IM
paper · pdf · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202141739
published as A&A 658, A146 (2022) · 29 pages, 42 figures, accepted for publication by A&A
arxiv created 2021/09/30 · openalex publication_date 2021/11/20 · arxiv updated 2022/03/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We describe the APERture Tile In Focus (Apertif) system, a phased array feed (PAF) upgrade of the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope which has transformed this telescope into a high-sensitivity, wide field-of-view L-band imaging and transient survey instrument. Using novel PAF technology, up to 40 partially overlapping beams can be formed on the sky simultaneously, significantly increasing the survey speed of the telescope. With this upgraded instrument, an imaging survey covering an area of 2300 deg2 is being performed which will deliver both continuum and spectral line data sets, of which the first data has been publicly released. In addition, a time domain transient and pulsar survey covering 15,000 deg2 is in progress. An overview of the Apertif science drivers, hardware and software of the upgraded telescope is presented, along with its key performance characteristics.