The Center of Astronomy of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Piwnice received nearly PLN 1.6 million for the modernization of the 32-meter radio telescope apparatus, which will enable observation by means of large-scale interferometry.

The Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) method allows radically improve the resolution of radio astronomy observations by combining radio telescopes into a network so that the pairs of elements of this network act as interferometers.

In 2019, in all radio astronomy observatories in Europe working in the VLBI network, the standard of the observation method will be changed – the data acquisition speed will be increased to 2 Gb / s and then to 4 Gb / s first. Modernization will ensure compatibility of the Toruń radio telescope with other elements of the network and further participation in international cooperation.