Observations of transients and pulsars with LOFAR international stations and the ARTEMIS backend

TL;DR

This paper discusses LOFAR's international stations and the ARTEMIS backend, a GPU-based system for real-time detection of millisecond radio transients and pulsars, enhancing observational capabilities in radio astronomy.

Contribution

Introduction of the ARTEMIS backend for LOFAR, enabling real-time detection of radio transients and pulsars using GPU technology across international stations.

Findings

Real-time detection of millisecond radio bursts achieved.

ARTEMIS enhances LOFAR's transient observation capabilities.

International stations operate independently with the new backend.

Abstract

The LOw Frequency ARray - LOFAR - is a new radio interferometer designed with emphasis on flexible digital hardware instead of mechanical solutions. The array elements, so-called stations, are located in the Netherlands and in neighbouring countries. The design of LOFAR allows independent use of its international stations, which, coupled with a dedicated backend, makes them very powerful telescopes in their own right. This backend is called the Advanced Radio Transient Event Monitor and Identification System (ARTEMIS). It is a combined software/hardware solution for both targeted observations and real-time searches for millisecond radio transients which uses Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) technology to remove interstellar dispersion and detect millisecond radio bursts from astronomical sources in real-time.