The Westerbork Observatory, Continuing Adventure in Radio Astronomy

A small country builds a world-class telescope in its backyard and lives happily ever after (or at least for a quarter century). That in a nutshell is the story told in this collection of essays. The country of course is the Netherlands, and the telescope is the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Tele scope (WSRT), brainchild of Jan Oort. Living happily in this context is a continuing record of discovery and as such also a continuing basis for se curing observing time on facilities in other countries and operating at other frequencies. As our community celebrates the Silver Anniversary of the radio tele scope at Westerbork, it is fitting that we pause to take account of the scientific discoveries and insights it made possible. Initially the instrument represented the very significant step away from university-run, specialist facilities to a well-supported, common-user radio imager also having spec tral and polarization capabilities. It pioneered the mode of operation now common for satellite observatories, in which data is taken and calibrated by technicians and provided to researchers ready for analysis. It has been a major source of discovery in, among other areas, research on neutral hy drogen and studies of dark matter in galaxies.

Klappentext

The impact of large radio telescopes on the progress of astronomical research in the past, present and future is the subject of twelve essays, of interest to both the layman and the professional astronomer. Current research in different fields and visions of what may be achieved with future observational possibilities are found next to contributions containing historical notes on Dutch radio astronomy and the scientific highlights of a quarter-century's work with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope. Major upgrades in progress will soon turn the WSRT into a more powerful and significantly more versatile instrument. Looking further ahead, plans for a new-generation telescope, a Square-Kilometer- Array, promise enormous advances in many areas of astronomy, among them research on pulsars, on gas in the early universe and in cosmology.

Inhalt
Oort's Dream (1961).- Historical Notes: Four Decades of Dutch Radio Astronomy, Twenty-Five Years Westerbork Telescope.- The Synthesis Radio Telescope; Principles of Operation, Development of Data Processing.- A Quarter Century of Listening Pleasure 25 Years' Research with the WSRT.- The Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope, a Second Lease on Life.- The Westerbork Telescope and Very Long Baseline Interferometry.- Dark Matter and Neutral Hydrogen in Spiral Galaxies.- Powerful Radio Sources: Westerbork and Beyond.- The Square Kilometer Array Interferometer.- Prospects for Pulsar Research.- Gas in the Early Universe.- New Challenges for Cosmology.- Index of Names.