Related papers: LOFAR, LEAP and beyond: Using next generation tele…
The study of transient and variable low-frequency radio sources is a key goal for LOFAR, with an extremely broad science case ranging from relativistic jets sources to pulsars, exoplanets, radio bursts at cosmological distances, the…
Radio pulsars are unique laboratories for a wide range of physics and astrophysics. Understanding how they are created, how they evolve and where we find them in the Galaxy, with or without binary companions, is highly constraining of…
The new frontier of cosmology will be led by three-dimensional surveys of the large-scale structure of the Universe. Based on its all-sky surveys and redshift depth, the SKA is destined to revolutionize cosmology, in combination with future…
Astrophysics facilities have been of tremendous importance for planetary science. The flagship space observatory Hubble Space Telescope has produced ground-breaking Solar System science, but when launched it did not even have the capability…
Over the last decade Galactic planetary nebula discoveries have entered a golden age due to the emergence of high sensitivity, high resolution narrow-band surveys of the Galactic plane. These have been coupled with access to complimentary,…
For the last few decades the study of disks around stars young and old and of different types have progressed significantly. During the same time a completely new discipline, the study of exoplanets, planets orbiting stars other than our…
The historical development of ground based astronomical telescopes leads us to expect that space-based astronomical telescopes will need to be operational for many decades. The exchange of scientific instruments in space will be a…
Advances in astronomy are intimately linked to advances in digital signal processing (DSP). This special issue is focused upon advances in DSP within radio astronomy. The trend within that community is to use off-the-shelf digital hardware…
The successful construction and operation of highly sensitive gravitational-wave detectors is an achievement to be proud of, but the detection of actual signals is still around the corner. Even so, null results from recent searches have…
Wide-angle surveys have been an engine for new discoveries throughout the modern history of astronomy, and have been among the most highly cited and scientifically productive observing facilities in recent years. This trend is likely to…
We review some aspects of the current state of data-intensive astronomy, its methods, and some outstanding data analysis challenges. Astronomy is at the forefront of "big data" science, with exponentially growing data volumes and data…
Our understanding of the universe relies mostly on electromagnetism. As photons are the messengers, fundamental physics is concerned in testing their properties. Photon mass upper limits have been earlier set through pulsar observations,…
Air showers from cosmic rays emit short, intense radio pulses. LOFAR is a new radio telescope, that is being built in the Netherlands and Europe. Designed primarily as a radio interferometer, the core of LOFAR will have a high density of…
Modern radio telescopes will daily generate data sets on the scale of exabytes for systems like the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Massive data sets are a source of unknown and rare astrophysical phenomena that lead to discoveries.…
The influence of new techniques on the discovery and characterization of pulsating variables has been enormous. In this paper, I will review the methods and results of a number of research programmes which have dramatically altered our…
Future prospects in observational galaxy evolution are reviewed from a personal perspective. New insights will especially come from high-redshift integral field kinematic data and similar low-redshift observations in very large and…
Observational astrophysics uses sophisticated technology to collect and measure electromagnetic and other radiation from beyond the Earth. Modern observatories produce large, complex datasets and extracting the maximum possible information…
Galactic plane radio surveys play a key role in improving our understanding of a wide range of astrophysical phenomena. Performing such a survey using the latest interferometric telescopes produces large data rates necessitating a shift…
I summarize the excitement of my role primarily in the early years of X-ray Astronomy. As a "second-generation" X-ray astronomer, I was privileged to participate in the enormous advance of the field, both technically and astrophysically,…
We investigate the number and type of pulsars that will be discovered with the low-frequency radio telescope LOFAR. We consider different search strategies for the Galaxy, for globular clusters and for other galaxies. We show that a 25-day…