Construction of the core of the very large NenuFAR radio telescope has just been completed at the Nançay Radio Astronomy Observatory. The core comprises 1,824 dual-polarisation antennas in a 400-metre diameter disc, representing 92.3% of the complete instrument. It is the key component that gives the instrument its exceptional sensitivity in the 10-85 MHz range, between the ionospheric cutoff and the FM band. NenuFAR also has 152 antennas (half of which are installed) distributed up to 5 km from the core, designed to increase the angular resolution of images produced in stand-alone mode. Ten to fifteen scientific programmes are conducted each semester with NenuFAR, ranging from the search for cosmic dawn signals to exoplanets and stars in radio, pulsars, Jupiter, the Sun, interstellar recombination lines, etc. NenuFAR will also be integrated into LOFAR in 2027, combining sensitivity and high angular resolution. It is an official scout for the SKA project, and its operation contributes to preparing the national community for SKA.
The completion of the construction of its core was marked by a small celebration during the Nançay Strategic Management Committee meeting (attended by representatives of the supervisory authorities), with a magnificent cake inspired by the NenuFAR logo, so unfortunately we can only offer you a photo :-)
NenuFAR received funding from the CNRS/INSU, the Paris-PSL Observatory, the University of Orléans, the Centre-Val de Loire Region, the DIM-ACAV/ACAV+ of the Ile-de-France Region, and the French National Research Agency.
