The U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) has begun a major upgrade to the NSF Very Long Baseline Array (NSF VLBA) with the development and installation of state-of-the-art ultra wideband receivers capable of operating across the frequency range of 8 to 40 gigahertz (GHz).
Recent News
Astronomers Reveal Planet Building’s Secret Ingredient: Magnetism
Astronomers have created a detailed map revealing the magnetic fields weaving through TW Hydrae, one of the closest known stars with a planet-forming disk, using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).
A Million Reasons to Celebrate: NSF NRAO Hits One Million Citations
The U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) is celebrating a historic achievement: research using our telescopes has now been cited over one million times in scientific literature!
Unusual stellar nurseries near our galaxy’s center puzzle scientists

These images are made from data from the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Herschel Space Observatory. Image credit: J. De Buizer (SETI) / SOFIA / Spitzer / Herschel
New research led by Dr. James De Buizer at the SETI Institute and Dr. Wanggi Lim at IPAC at Caltech revealed surprising results about the rate at which high-mass stars form in the galactic center of the Milky Way. The researchers based their study primarily on observations from NASA’s now-retired SOFIA airborne observatory, and using data from the U.S. National Science Foundation Very Large Array archive, and focuses on three star-forming regions—Sgr B1, Sgr B2, and Sgr C—located at the heart of the galaxy.
This science was presented at the 246th American Astronomical Society Conference in Anchorage, Alaska on Monday, June 9, 2025, 2:15 PM AK. You can read the full release from SETI.
About NRAO
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) 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 June 13, 2025.
Recent News
NRAO to Outfit the VLBA with New Ultra Wideband Receivers
The U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) has begun a major upgrade to the NSF Very Long Baseline Array (NSF VLBA) with the development and installation of state-of-the-art ultra wideband receivers capable of operating across the frequency range of 8 to 40 gigahertz (GHz).
Astronomers Reveal Planet Building’s Secret Ingredient: Magnetism
Astronomers have created a detailed map revealing the magnetic fields weaving through TW Hydrae, one of the closest known stars with a planet-forming disk, using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).
A Million Reasons to Celebrate: NSF NRAO Hits One Million Citations
The U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) is celebrating a historic achievement: research using our telescopes has now been cited over one million times in scientific literature!