Westerbork Observatory

A Dutch national radio astronomy observatory which is part of the Netherlands Foundation for Research in Astronomy (NFRA, or ASTRON). The administrative headquarters are at Dwingeloo Observatory. The instrument at Westerbork Observatory is called the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT). It is a fourteen-element aperture synthesis instrument, and came into operation in 1970. A major extension in 1980 increased the baseline from 1,500 to 3,000 metres (0.9 to 1.8 miles).