Latest National Radio Astronomy Observatory Stories
ESO [ Watch The Video Scenes from the ALMA Inauguration day ] Today, in a remote part of the Chilean Andes, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), was inaugurated at an official ceremony. This event marks the completion of all the major systems of the giant telescope and the formal transition from a construction project to a fully fledged observatory. ALMA is a partnership between Europe, North America and East Asia in cooperation with the Republic of Chile....
National Radio Astronomy Observatory [ Watch the Video Answering Questions Of Where Prebiotic Molecules Form ] Using new technology at the telescope and in laboratories, researchers have discovered an important pair of prebiotic molecules in interstellar space. The discoveries indicate that some basic chemicals that are key steps on the way to life may have formed on dusty ice grains floating between the stars. The scientists used the National Science Foundation's Green Bank...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online On February 15, astronomers will have an exciting opportunity with a record-setting close approach of an asteroid. The research team, using the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and NASA telescopes, will gain a key clue that will help predict the future of this natural cosmic orbiter. Discovered just a year ago, the 150-foot-wide asteroid, called 2012 DA14, will pass only 17,200 miles from the Earth on Friday, which is...
European Southern Observatory (ESO) ALMA (the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) has begun a new and more advanced phase of science observations. This phase is known as Early Science Cycle 1, and will last until October 2013. The telescope’s power has been greatly increased: it will make observations with more antennas, spread over a greater distance, than ever before, and will use antennas from the Atacama Compact Array (ACA) for the first time. Although ALMA is still...
[ Watch the Video: All Systems Go for Highest Altitude Supercomputer ] Michael Harper for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online When one begins to search for the origins of the universe, it helps to be well-equipped and as close to the heavens as possible. Therefore, the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (or ALMA) has been built high up in the martian-esque landscape of the Atacama desert of northern Chile. Each of these 66 radio telescopes (or giant antennas) are used in...
National Radio Astronomy Observatory A new program is giving middle-school-aged youth the chance to take remote control of a large, research-grade radio telescope and expand their cosmic explorations beyond what the eye can see. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory's (NRAO) 20-meter-diameter telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia, is joining a global network of telescopes bringing the excitement of hands-on research to young people via 4-H, the nation's largest youth development...
NEWTON, N.C., Dec. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The 25(th) and final 12-meter (40-foot) antenna manufactured by General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies has been formally accepted by the Joint Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) Observatory. Delivered to the Operations Support Facility in the Chilean Andes, the 115-ton, highly specialized radio-telescope antenna is completing final integration and testing before being moved up to the Array Operations Site which is...
European Southern Observatory (ESO) On 13 March 2013 the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the largest ground-based astronomical project in the world, will be inaugurated, celebrating ALMA’s transition from a construction project to a fully fledged observatory and marking the milestone of all the major systems of the observatory being operational. More than 50 of ALMA’s antennas will be in operation, and all 66 will be fully assembled. The inauguration ceremony will...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online It has taken more than a decade of design and construction, but North America has finally delivered the last of 25 antenna dishes, marking an important milestone in the construction of an observatory astronomers are using to open up a "final frontier" of the spectrum of visible light to exploration. The dishes are 12-meters in diameter, and comprise the North American share of antennas for the international ALMA telescope. Stretching...
Jeffrey Mangum, a scientist at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) headquarters in Charlottesville, Virginia, has been appointed Editor of the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (PASP), a peer-reviewed scientific journal. The tenth editor in PASP's 125-year history, Mangum will continue in his position on the NRAO's scientific staff, where he has worked fulltime since 1994. PASP is a publication of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP), a nonprofit...
Latest National Radio Astronomy Observatory Reference Libraries
Very Large Array -- The Very Large Array, one of the world's premier astronomical radio observatories, consists of 27 radio antennas in a Y-shaped configuration on the Plains of San Agustin fifty miles west of Socorro, New Mexico. Each antenna is 25 meters (82 feet) in diameter. The data from the antennas is combined electronically to give the resolution of an antenna 36km (22 miles) across, with the sensitivity of a dish 130 meters (422 feet) in diameter. The VLA is an...
National Radio Astronomy Observatory -- The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is a research facility of the U.S. National Science Foundation. They provide state-of-the-art radio telescope facilities for use by the scientific community. They conceive, design, build, operate and maintain radio telescopes used by scientists from around the world. Scientists use their facilities to study virtually all types of astronomical objects known, from planets and comets in our own Solar...
Kitt Peak Observatory -- astronomical observatory located southwest of Tucson, Ariz.; it was founded in 1958 under contract with the National Science Foundation and is administered by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy. Its principal instrument is the Mayall 158-in. (4-m) reflector. The observatory's equipment also includes 84-in. (2.1 m), 50-in. (1.3-m), 36-in. (0.9-m), and 16-in. (0.4-m) reflecting telescopes as well as a planned 3.5-m telescope. Used for wide...
