News

New Method May Resolve Difficulty in Measuring Universe’s Expansion

New Method May Resolve Difficulty in Measuring Universe’s Expansion

Astronomers using National Science Foundation (NSF) radio telescopes have demonstrated how a combination of gravitational-wave and radio observations, along with theoretical modeling, can turn the mergers of pairs of neutron stars into a “cosmic ruler” capable of measuring the expansion of the Universe and resolving an outstanding question over...

VLA Discovers Powerful Jet Coming from “Wrong” Kind of Star

VLA Discovers Powerful Jet Coming from “Wrong” Kind of Star

Astronomers using the National Science Foundation’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) have discovered a fast-moving jet of material propelled outward from a type of neutron star previously thought incapable of launching such a jet. The discovery, the scientists said, requires them to fundamentally revise their ideas about how such jets...

Radio Observations Confirm Superfast Jet of Material From Neutron Star Merger

Radio Observations Confirm Superfast Jet of Material From Neutron Star Merger

Precise measurement using a continent-wide collection of National Science Foundation (NSF) radio telescopes has revealed that a narrow jet of particles moving at nearly the speed of light broke out into interstellar space after a pair of neutron stars merged in a galaxy 130 million light-years from Earth. The merger, which occurred in August of...

First Science with ALMA’s Highest-Frequency Capabilities

First Science with ALMA’s Highest-Frequency Capabilities

Astronomers observe cosmic steam jets and molecules galore Synopsis: A team of scientists using the highest-frequency capabilities of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has uncovered jets of warm water vapor streaming away from a newly forming star. The researchers also detected the “fingerprints” of an astonishing assortment...