Latest News from: National Radio Astronomy Observatory

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13-Feb-2015 9:00 AM EST
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

An international team of astronomers used ALMA to dissect a cluster of star-forming clouds at the heart of NGC 253, one of the nearest starburst galaxies to the Milky Way.

Released: 30-Jan-2015 1:45 PM EST
Image Release: High-Def Radar Images of Near-Earth Asteroid
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

A team of astronomers using the NSF's Green Bank Telescope (GBT) in West Virginia and NASA's Deep Space Network radar transmitter at Goldstone, California, has made the most detailed radar images yet of asteroid 2004 BL86.

Released: 31-Dec-2014 10:10 AM EST
Top Ten Radio Hits of 2014: NRAO Astronomers Select Most Interesting News Stories of the Year
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Looking back at the science news released by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in 2014, the staff scientists at NRAO selected what they believe are the top 10 stories based on both scientific impact and public interest.

Released: 17-Dec-2014 2:00 PM EST
'Perfect Storm' Quenching Star Formation around a Supermassive Black Hole
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Astronomers using ALMA have discovered that modest black holes can shut down star formation by producing turbulence.

Released: 11-Dec-2014 2:00 PM EST
Swarms of Pluto-Size Objects Kick-Up Dust around Adolescent Sun-Like Star
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) may have detected the dusty hallmarks of an entire family of Pluto-size objects swarming around an adolescent version of our own Sun.

Released: 20-Nov-2014 3:00 PM EST
VLA Visitor Center Film Earns Prestigious Media Award
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

The VLA visitor center film, "Beyond the Visible: The Story of the Very Large Array," received an Interpretive Media Award from the National Association for Interpretation (NAI).

Released: 10-Nov-2014 3:40 PM EST
ALMA Finds Best Evidence Yet for Galactic Merger in Distant Protocluster
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Nestled among a triplet of young galaxies more than 12.5 billion light-years away is a cosmic powerhouse: a galaxy that is producing stars nearly 1,000 times faster than our own Milky Way. This energetic starburst galaxy, known as AzTEC-3, together with its gang of calmer galaxies may represent the best evidence yet that large galaxies grow from the merger of smaller ones in the early Universe, a process known as hierarchical merging.

5-Nov-2014 7:00 AM EST
Birth of Planets Revealed in Astonishing Detail in ALMA’s ‘Best Image Ever’
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Astronomers have captured the best image ever of planet formation around an infant star as part of the testing and verification process for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array’s (ALMA) new high-resolution capabilities.

28-Oct-2014 3:00 PM EDT
Planet-Forming Lifeline Discovered in a Binary Star System
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have detected a streamer of dust and gas flowing from a massive outer disk toward the inner reaches of a binary star system. This never-before-seen feature may be responsible for sustaining a second, smaller disk of planet-forming material that otherwise would have disappeared long ago.

Released: 22-Oct-2014 4:00 PM EDT
Organic Molecules in Titan's Atmosphere Are Intriguingly Skewed
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

While studying the atmosphere on Saturn’s moon Titan, scientists discovered intriguing zones of organic molecules unexpectedly shifted away from its north and south poles. These misaligned features seem to defy conventional thinking about Titan’s windy atmosphere, which should quickly smear out such off-axis concentrations.

Released: 26-Sep-2014 2:00 PM EDT
You Are in Command as NRAO’s ‘Milky Way Explorer’ Tours the Solar System
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) released a new Solar System installment of its popular Milky Way Explorer,

Released: 25-Sep-2014 2:05 PM EDT
NRAO Media Tip Sheet September 2014:Science, Engineering, and Technology Milestones
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Topics include: 1. ALMA Finds that Organic Molecules are Branching Out; 2. VLA Reveals Details of Still-Forming Planetary System; 3. New NRAO Patent for Radio Synthesizer

Released: 10-Sep-2014 12:05 PM EDT
ALMA Achieves New Observing Capabilities
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has reached a major milestone by extending its vision fully into the realm of the submillimeter, the wavelengths of cosmic light that hold intriguing information about the cold, dark, and distant Universe.

3-Sep-2014 10:00 AM EDT
Newly Identified Galactic Supercluster Is Home to the Milky Way
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Astronomers using the GBT -- among other telescopes -- have determined that our own Milky Way galaxy is part of a newly identified ginormous supercluster of galaxies, which they have dubbed “Laniakea,” which means “immense heaven” in Hawaiian.

Released: 27-Aug-2014 11:00 AM EDT
Orion Rocks! Pebble-Size Particles May Jump-Start Planet Formation
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Astronomers using the Green Bank Telescope have discovered that filaments of star-forming gas near the Orion Nebula may be brimming with pebble-size particles -- planetary building blocks 100 to 1,000 times larger than the dust grains typically found around protostars.

25-Aug-2014 3:05 PM EDT
Best View Yet of Merging Galaxies in Distant Universe
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

An international team of astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) -- among other telescopes -- has obtained the best view yet of a collision between two galaxies when the Universe was only half its current age.

Released: 11-Aug-2014 3:00 PM EDT
Comets Forge Organic Molecules in Their Dusty Atmospheres, ALMA Confirms
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

An international team of scientists using ALMA has made incredible 3D images of the ghostly atmospheres surrounding comets ISON and Lemmon. These new observations provided important insights into how and where comets forge new chemicals, including intriguing organic compounds.

Released: 5-Aug-2014 1:00 PM EDT
ALMA Pinpoints Pluto to Help Guide NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) are making high-precision measurements of Pluto's location and orbit around the Sun to help NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft accurately home in on its target when it nears Pluto and its five known moons in July 2015.

28-Jul-2014 8:55 AM EDT
Young Binary Star System May Form Planets with Weird and Wild Orbits
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

While surveying a series of binary stars with the ALMA telescope, astronomers uncovered a striking pair of wildly misaligned planet-forming disks in the young binary star system HK Tau.

11-Jun-2014 1:00 PM EDT
Gigantic Explosion Buried in Dust: Alma Probes Environment Around Gamma Ray Bursts
National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Researchers using ALMA report the first-ever detection of molecular gas -- the fuel for star formation -- in two galaxies that were previously rocked by gamma ray bursts (GRBs), the brightest explosions in the Universe.



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