** Synopsis: For the first time, astronomers using ALMA have witnessed 3D motions of gas in a planet-forming disk. At three locations in the disk around a young star called HD 163296, gas is flowing like a waterfall into gaps that are most likely caused by planets in...
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Going Against the Flow Around a Supermassive Black Hole
At the center of a galaxy called NGC 1068, a supermassive black hole hides within a thick doughnut-shaped cloud of dust and gas. When astronomers used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to study this cloud in more detail, they made an unexpected...
New NSF Support Agreement for Next Generation Very Large Array
Oct 17, 2019 | ALMA, NRAO, Policy, VLA
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded an additional $4M to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI) to fund the design and development of the next generation Very Large Array (ngVLA). With this funding...
Image Release: ALMA Shows What’s Inside Jupiter’s Storms
Aug 29, 2019 | ALMA, General, Science
Swirling clouds, big colorful belts, giant storms — the beautiful and turbulent atmosphere of Jupiter has been showcased many times. But what is going on below the clouds? What is causing the many storms and eruptions that we see on the ‘surface’ of the planet? To see...
ALMA Dives into Black Hole’s ‘Sphere of Influence’
What happens inside a black hole stays inside a black hole, but what happens inside a black hole’s “sphere of influence” – the innermost region of a galaxy where a black hole’s gravity is the dominant force – is of intense interest to astronomers and can help...
‘Moon-forming’ Circumplanetary Disk Discovered in Distant Star System
Aug 12, 2019 | ALMA, General, Science
Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have made the first-ever observations of a circumplanetary disk, the planet-girding belt of dust and gas that astronomers strongly theorize controls the formation of planets and gives rise to an...
Planetary Rings of Uranus ‘Glow’ in Cold Light
Jun 20, 2019 | ALMA, NRAO, Science
Summary: Using the both ALMA and the VLT, astronomers have imaged the cold, rock-strewn rings encircling the planet Uranus. Rather than observing the reflected sunlight from these rings, ALMA and the VLT imaged the millimeter and mid-infrared “glow” naturally emitted...
Radio Astronomy and Black Holes
Apr 11, 2019 | ALMA, General, Science
How a Telescope Made Mostly of Nothing Became Astronomy’s ‘Killer App’ Astronomers have captured the first direct visual evidence of a black hole at the center of Messier 87 (M87), a giant elliptical galaxy 55 million light-years from Earth. This unprecedented...
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Recent News
VIDEO: Multi-wavelength Observations Reveal Impact of Black Hole on M87 Galaxy
In 2019, a worldwide collaboration of scientists used a global collection of radio telescopes called the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) to make the first-ever image of a black hole — the supermassive black hole at the core of the galaxy M87, some 55 million light-years from Earth.
ACEAP Alumna Selected as Astronaut for SpaceX
Sian Procter, a participant in the Astronomy in Chile Educator Ambassadors Program (ACEAP) in 2016, has been selected as an astronaut by SpaceX. The Inspiration4 mission, scheduled to launch sometime after 15 September 2021, will orbit Earth for three days and conduct a variety of experiments.
New Images Reveal Magnetic Structures Near Supermassive Black Hole
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) — the worldwide collaboration that produced the first image of a black hole in 2019 — has produced a new image showing details of the magnetic fields in the region closest to the supermassive black hole at the core of the galaxy M87. The new work is providing astronomers with important clues about how powerful jets of material can be produced in that region.
After Long Shutdown, Giant Radio Telescope Array Set to Resume Observations
VLA Helps Astronomers Make New Discoveries About Star-Shredding Events
New studies using the VLA and other telescopes have added to our knowledge of what happens when a black hole shreds a star, but also have raised new questions that astronomers must tackle.
Radio Telescope is So Powerful it Can See the Surface of Other Worlds
Get ready for close-up surface images of distant planets in our solar system.
Next Generation VLA Endorsed by Canadian Panel
The Canadian Astronomy Long Range Plan 2020-2030, a report on priorities and recommendations for Canadian astronomy over the next decade, has recommended that Canada support the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s (NRAO) proposed Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA), saying the new facility will enable transformational science across many areas of astrophysics.
The ITL Expects to Create 35 Businesses Between the Third and Tenth Year of Operation
The former Minister of Energy, Ricardo Raineri, who also has a long career as a professor and university researcher and international consultant, was appointed by the American consortium Associated Universities Inc. (AUI) as Director of Development and responsible for executing the installation stage from the Institute of Clean Technologies (ITL).
This Insane Picture of The Moon Was Actually Taken From Earth
A test of a powerful new space imaging instrument has given us a gloriously detailed new perspective of the Apollo 15 Moon landing site.
Successful Test Paves Way for New Planetary Radar
The National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Observatory (GBO) and National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), and Raytheon Intelligence & Space conducted a test in November to prove that a new radio telescope system can capture high-resolution images in near-Earth space.
Categories
Recent News
VIDEO: Multi-wavelength Observations Reveal Impact of Black Hole on M87 Galaxy
In 2019, a worldwide collaboration of scientists used a global collection of radio telescopes called the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) to make the first-ever image of a black hole — the supermassive black hole at the core of the galaxy M87, some 55 million light-years from Earth.
ACEAP Alumna Selected as Astronaut for SpaceX
Sian Procter, a participant in the Astronomy in Chile Educator Ambassadors Program (ACEAP) in 2016, has been selected as an astronaut by SpaceX. The Inspiration4 mission, scheduled to launch sometime after 15 September 2021, will orbit Earth for three days and conduct a variety of experiments.
New Images Reveal Magnetic Structures Near Supermassive Black Hole
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) — the worldwide collaboration that produced the first image of a black hole in 2019 — has produced a new image showing details of the magnetic fields in the region closest to the supermassive black hole at the core of the galaxy M87. The new work is providing astronomers with important clues about how powerful jets of material can be produced in that region.
After Long Shutdown, Giant Radio Telescope Array Set to Resume Observations
VLA Helps Astronomers Make New Discoveries About Star-Shredding Events
New studies using the VLA and other telescopes have added to our knowledge of what happens when a black hole shreds a star, but also have raised new questions that astronomers must tackle.
Radio Telescope is So Powerful it Can See the Surface of Other Worlds
Get ready for close-up surface images of distant planets in our solar system.
Next Generation VLA Endorsed by Canadian Panel
The Canadian Astronomy Long Range Plan 2020-2030, a report on priorities and recommendations for Canadian astronomy over the next decade, has recommended that Canada support the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s (NRAO) proposed Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA), saying the new facility will enable transformational science across many areas of astrophysics.
The ITL Expects to Create 35 Businesses Between the Third and Tenth Year of Operation
The former Minister of Energy, Ricardo Raineri, who also has a long career as a professor and university researcher and international consultant, was appointed by the American consortium Associated Universities Inc. (AUI) as Director of Development and responsible for executing the installation stage from the Institute of Clean Technologies (ITL).
This Insane Picture of The Moon Was Actually Taken From Earth
A test of a powerful new space imaging instrument has given us a gloriously detailed new perspective of the Apollo 15 Moon landing site.
Successful Test Paves Way for New Planetary Radar
The National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Observatory (GBO) and National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), and Raytheon Intelligence & Space conducted a test in November to prove that a new radio telescope system can capture high-resolution images in near-Earth space.
ALMA Discovers Massive Rotating Disk in Early Universe
In our 13.8 billion-year-old universe, most galaxies like our Milky Way form gradually, reaching their large mass relatively late. But a new discovery made with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) of a massive rotating disk galaxy, seen when the...
The Strange Orbits of ‘Tatooine’ Planetary Disks
Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have found striking orbital geometries in protoplanetary disks around binary stars. While disks orbiting the most compact binary star systems share very nearly the same plane, disks encircling...
ALMA Reveals Unusual Composition of Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov
Apr 22, 2020 | ALMA
2I/Borisov likely formed in extremely cold environment, high amounts of carbon monoxide show A galactic visitor entered our solar system last year – interstellar comet 2I/Borisov. When astronomers pointed the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) toward...
ALMA Spots Most Distant Dusty Galaxy Hidden in Plain Sight
Dec 13, 2019 | ALMA, NRAO, Science
Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have spotted the light of a massive galaxy seen only 970 million years after the Big Bang. This galaxy, called MAMBO-9, is the most distant dusty star-forming galaxy that has ever been observed...