News Releases
The NSF Very Large Array Helps Reveal Record-Breaking Stream of Super-Heated Gas from Nearby Galaxy
New radio images from the the U.S. National Science Foundation Very Large Array trace a pair of powerful plasma jets launched by galaxy VV 340a’s central supermassive black hole, which appear to be driving hot coronal gas out of the galaxy and shutting down future star formation.
Radio Telescopes Uncover ‘Invisible’ Gas Around Record-Shattering Cosmic Explosion
Astronomers using the U.S. National Science Foundation Very Large Array and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array have revealed a dense cocoon of gas around one of the most extreme cosmic explosions ever seen, showing that a ravenous black hole ripped apart a massive star and then lit up its surroundings with powerful X-rays.
New Discovery Challenges Evolution of Galaxy Clusters
Peering back in time, around 12 billion years, astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have found the most distant and direct evidence of scorching gas in a forming galaxy cluster, SPT2349-56. The hot plasma, seen when the Universe was just 1.4 billion years old, is far hotter and more pressurized than current theories predicted for such an early system.
Cosmic Lens Reveals Hyperactive Cradle of Future Galaxy Cluster
Astronomers using the U.S. National Science Foundation Very Large Array (NSF VLA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have discovered a rare protocluster that was exceptionally bright, all when the Universe was 11 billion years younger. The system, called PJ0846+15 (J0846), is the first strongly lensed protocluster core discovered, revealing how some of the most massive galaxy clusters in the present-day Universe began their lives.
AUI by the Numbers
75+
Years of Experience in Managing
Federally Funded Research and
Development Centers (FFRDCs)
30
Active Research Patents
1,130+
Doctoral Dissertations Supported by
National Radio Astronomy
Observatory Facilities
Highlights
- AUI is laying the groundwork to upgrade the U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) to become the Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA).
- AUI led efforts to create the $1.4-billion Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the world’s largest radio telescope, as part of an international consortium.
- AUI has joined with LEAP Manufacturing in support of the UT-Dallas Batteries and Energy to Advance Commercialization and National Security (BEACONS) Center. Funded by a $30-million agreement by the U.S. Department of Defense, BEACONS will develop and commercialize new battery technologies and manufacturing processes, enhance the domestic availability of critical raw materials, and train high-quality workers for jobs in an expanding battery energy storage workforce.
- AUI maintains over a dozen STEM education and public engagement efforts and programs that seek to inspire people of all ages, and to prepare the next generation STEM workforce.
Leadership
Who We Are
AUI is an independent, not-for-profit corporation founded in 1946 that builds, manages and operates large research and development (R&D) facilities for the federal government, including the U.S. National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) facilities, the Center for American Supply Chain Resilience (CASCR), and the AUI Center for Advancing Therapeutics. AUI also develops and implements innovative approaches to education, outreach and workforce development.
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