Onsala Space Observatory

Onsala Space Observatory

Logo of the Onsala Space Observatory
Organization	Chalmers University of Technology
Location	Onsala, Kungsbacka, Sweden
Coordinates	57°23′35″N 11°55′04″E / 57.39306°N 11.91778°E / 57.39306; 11.91778Coordinates: 57°23′35″N 11°55′04″E / 57.39306°N 11.91778°E / 57.39306; 11.91778
Altitude	20 m
Established	1949
Website	www.chalmers.se/oso
Telescopes
20 metre single-dish movable 25 metre single-dish movable LOFAR station interferometer
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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. The observatory operates two radio telescopes in Onsala, 45 km south of Gothenburg, and takes part in several international projects. Examples of activities:

Onsala Space Observatory was founded in 1949 by professor Olof Rydbeck. The observatory is hosted by Department of Earth and Space Science at Chalmers University of Technology, and is operated on behalf of the Swedish Research Council.

The 25.6 m diameter, polar mount decimeter-wave telescope in Onsala is equipped with receivers for frequencies up to 7 GHz. It is used for astronomical VLBI observations. It is also operated as a single dish for studies of molecular clouds in the Galaxy. The telescope was built in 1963.

The 20 m diameter millimetre wave telescope in Onsala is equipped with receivers for frequencies up to 116 GHz. It is used for observations of millimetre wave emission from molecules in comets, circumstellar envelopes, and the interstellar medium in the Galaxy and in extragalactic objects. The telescope is enclosed in a radome of diameter 30 m.

It is also used for astronomical VLBI observations of star forming regions, radio stars, and active galactic nuclei, and for geodetic VLBI observations to study e.g. crustal dynamics and polar motion. The telescope was built in 1975-76 and upgraded in 1992.

It is also used, as part of the European and worldwide networks, for astronomical Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations of star forming regions, radio stars, and active galactic nuclei, and for geodetic VLBI observations to study e.g. crustal dynamics and polar motion.

The telescope is equipped with the following receivers:

The Swedish station in the international radio telescope LOFAR is located at Onsala Space Observatory. It was completed in 2011.

The Onsala Space Observatory currently hosts the Nordic ALMA node, which is part of the European ALMA regional centre (ARC). The Nordic ALMA node provides face-to-face support for any astronomer than wants to use the ALMA telescope and primarily supports the Nordic scientific community.