2025 was an incredibly productive year for AUI, marked by significant advances across astronomy, energy, advanced therapeutics, and STEM education and workforce development.
Recent News
ALMA Reveals Teenage Years of New Worlds
The ALMA survey to Resolve exoKuiper belt Substructures (ARKS), using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), has produced the sharpest images ever of 24 debris disks, the dusty belts left after planets finish forming. These disks are the cosmic equivalent of the teenage years for planetary systems—somewhat more mature than newborn, planet-forming disks, but not yet settled into adulthood.
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.
Next-Generation Very Large Array Antenna Design to be Used By German Astronomers
Artist’s impression of ngVLA antennas design, as proposed at the current site of the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array on the Plains of San Agustin in west-central New Mexico. Credit: Sophia Dagnello, NRAO/AUI/NSF
Bavarian state government and regional universities fund construction of antenna on Germany’s highest peak
The U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory has announced a significant collaboration with the Bavarian State Government to construct a cutting-edge radio telescope atop Germany’s highest mountain. This radio telescope will use the design of the proposed NSF NRAO’s Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA).
Known as the Wetterstein Millimeter Telescope (WMT), this antenna could interface with the NSF NRAO’s proposed ngVLA, while also having the capability to function independently. The WMT will be strategically positioned at the summit of the Zugspitze, offering exceptional observing conditions due to its high altitude and clear skies. This location can significantly improve the antenna’s sensitivity and resolution across the millimeter wavelength range, allowing for groundbreaking astronomical observations.
The project is funded by the Bavarian State Government, as announced in their recent press release. “The Wetterstein Millimeter Telescope will be an exciting research facility and further opens up the possibility of one day establishing a global ngVLA network,” said ngVLA Project Scientist Eric Murphy of the NSF NRAO. “Its placement on the Zugspitze provides unparalleled observing conditions, which can enhance the overall sensitivity and resolution of the ngVLA. This may enable astronomers to conduct unprecedented research across a wide range of astrophysical topics.”
The WMT is not only a significant scientific achievement in its own right, but also has the potential to act as a catalyst for the development of a larger, dedicated interferometric array. Such an array, which could potentially include up to 16 antennas, would leverage the considerable astronomical expertise and infrastructure already present in Germany, and could expand the NSF NRAO’s proposed ngVLA reach and scientific impact.
About NRAO
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the U.S. National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.
This news article was originally published on the NRAO website on February 10, 2025.
Recent News
Making Scientific Breakthroughs Possible in 2025
2025 was an incredibly productive year for AUI, marked by significant advances across astronomy, energy, advanced therapeutics, and STEM education and workforce development.
ALMA Reveals Teenage Years of New Worlds
The ALMA survey to Resolve exoKuiper belt Substructures (ARKS), using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), has produced the sharpest images ever of 24 debris disks, the dusty belts left after planets finish forming. These disks are the cosmic equivalent of the teenage years for planetary systems—somewhat more mature than newborn, planet-forming disks, but not yet settled into adulthood.
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.