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Identification
Hosting Legal Entity
Chalmers University of Technology
Location
Observatorievägen 90, Råö, Onsala, PO: SE-439 92 (Sweden)
Structure
Type Of RI
Distributed
Coordinating Country
Sweden
Status
Status
Current Status:
Operational since 1949
Scientific Description
Onsala Space Observatory (OSO), the Swedish National Facility for Radio Astronomy, provides scientists with equipment to study the Earth and the rest of the Universe. OSO operates several radio telescopes in Onsala: The 20 m diameter telescope for cm and mm waves, the 25 m diameter telescope for dm and cm waves, and a LOFAR station for meter waves. The 20 and 25 m telescopes are part of VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) networks for astronomy and geodesy, including EVN and IVS. The LOFAR station is part of the ILT (International LOFAR Telescope). OSO is a geodetic fundamental station. The geodesy equipment includes, in addition to the 20 m telescope used for geo-VLBI, receivers for GNSS signals, and a superconducting gravimeter. There are also radiometers for studies of Earth's atmosphere, and laboratories for receiver development. OSO is one of three partners in the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) project, additionally to ESO and Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie. APEX is a 12 m diameter sub-mm radio telescope at 5100 m altitude in Chile. OSO was founded in 1949. OSO is hosted by Department of Earth and Space Sciences at Chalmers University of Technology, and is operated on behalf of the Swedish Research Council.

RI Keywords
Interferometry, VLBI, Astronomy, Submillimetre radio astronomy, Geodetic fundamental station, Radioastronomy, Geodynamics, Millimetre radio astronomy, Astrophysics, Space geodesy, Aeronomy
Classifications
RI Category
Centers for advanced research in mathematics
Solid Earth Observatories, including Seismological Monitoring Stations
Scientific Domain
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Physics, Astronomy, Astrophysics and Mathematics
ESFRI Domain
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Services
Onsala LOFAR station

Access to LOFAR through the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT).

Onsala 20 m telescope

Access to the radio telescope as a single dish including logistical, technological and scientific support. VLBI observations (geo and astro) mainly through EVN and IVS.

Superconducting gravimeter

Data is made available through the Global Geodynamics Project (GGP).

Radio aeronomy station

Data is made avilable through the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC).

APEX

Access to the radio telescope including logistical, technological and scientific support.

Onsala 25 m telescope

Astronomical VLBI observations mainly through EVN.

GNSS receiver

Data is made available through The International GNSS Service (IGS) and SWEPOS.

Equipment
Superconducting gravimeter

Superconducting gravimeter of type GWR 054, to monitor temporal changes of gravity.

GNSS receiver

GNSS receiver to monitor motions in Earth's crust.

Onsala 20 m telescope

Radio telescope with 20 m dish and alt-azimuth mounting, frequency range 2 - 120 GHz, max. angular resolution (as a single dish) 32- 1900 arcsec. Spectrometers and VLBI back-end.

Onsala 25 m telescope

Radio telescope with 25 m dish and equatorial mounting, frequency range 1 - 7.5 GHz, used for astronomical VLBI.

Radio aeronomy station

Radiomenters for the frequencies 22 GHz and 110-116 GHz to monitor gases in Earth's atmosphere.

Onsala LOFAR station

Array with a total of 192 antennas. The Low Band Antennas (LBA) covers the frequency range 20 - 80 MHz, and the High Band Antenna tiles (HBA) covers 120 - 240 MHz.

APEX

Radio telescope with 12 m dish and alt-azimuth mounting, frequency range 0.2 - 1.4 THz, max. angular resolution 4-30 arcsec.

Collaborations
Networks
International VLBI Service for Geodesy & Astrometry (IVS)
ILT
EVN
SWEPOS
RadioNet
NDACC
Date of last update: 16/03/2017
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