LOFAR: opening a new window on low frequency radio astronomy
  This contribution reports on the status of LOFAR (the LOw Frequency ARray) in
its ongoing commissioning phase. The purpose is to illustrate the progress that
is being made, often on a daily basis, and the potential of this new
instrument, which is the first "next-generation" radio telescope. Utilizing a
novel phased-array design, LOFAR is optimized for the largely unexplored low
frequency range: 10 - 240 MHz. The construction of LOFAR in the Netherlands is
almost complete and 8 international stations have already been deployed as
well. The wide field-of-view and multi-beam capabilities, in combination with
sub-milliJansky sensitivity at arcsec (and sub-arcsec) resolution, are
unprecedented at these frequencies. With the commissioning of LOFAR in full
swing, we report some of the initial results, in particular those coming from
the testing of imaging and pulsar modes.
