The National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) has launched two new funding opportunities for student researchers at U.S. institutions through the Student Observing Support (SOS) program and the NRAO/GBO Post-Bacc Program— a collaborative effort with the Green Bank Observatory (GBO). 

Student Observing Support (SOS) Program

NRAO’s SOS has received funding through the North American ALMA Science Center (NAASC) to support graduate and undergraduate research projects using ALMA archival data. Applications for the ALMA archival science program are due June 5, 2023 at 5:00pm Eastern Time. More details and application access are available at https://science.nrao.edu/facilities/opportunities/student-programs/sos

SOS is a fellowship intended to strengthen the role of the Observatory in training the next generation of telescope users, and provides support to new observing programs for NSF’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA, via NAASC), and for programs using ALMA archival data.

Applications for support for VLA and VLBA programs will open on June 7, 2023. 

NRAO/GBO Post-Baccalaureate Fellowship

Recent and soon-to-be graduates planning to attend grad school and conduct research in radio astronomy and related sciences are eligible to apply for funding through the NRAO/GBO Post-Baccalaureate Fellowship program. The 9-12 month program funds astronomy research under the mentorship of NRAO/GBO scientific staff at the Domenici Science Operations Center in Socorro, New Mexico; NRAO HQ in Charlottesville, Virginia; or, GBO in Green Bank, West Virginia. The fellowship includes a stipend and travel support to locate to the selected NRAO or GBO site, and attend a scientific conference.\

Applications for the NRAO/GBO Post-Baccalaureate Fellowship are due June 16, 2023 for appointments beginning in Fall 2023.

More information and application instructions are available at https://science.nrao.edu/opportunities/student-programs/nrao-post-baccalaureate-fellowship

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory and the Green Bank Observatory are major facilities of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

The post NRAO Announces Funding Opportunities for U.S. Students appeared first on National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

Note: This article is a collaborative work of Ken Kellermann, Ellen Bouton, Heather Cole, and Jeff Hellerman.

Before 1933, all we knew about the Universe came from observations made through the limited visual region of the electromagnetic spectrum. That all changed in large part thanks to Karl Jansky.

Jansky did not set out to develop a new field of astronomy.  While working for AT&T Bell Laboratories, Jansky was assigned the task of understanding the source of interference to transatlantic telephone communications. Using a 21 MHz rotating array, over a period of three years, Jansky meticulously traced the origin of the noise to the center of the Milky Way.

Most of Karl Jansky’s records and notes at Bell Labs were either lost or destroyed. One of the few remaining records of his observations is this series of scans made on September 16, 1932, which he published in the Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers, Vol. 21, 1387 (1933).  The peaks in his recorder tracings show the increased noise when his antenna beam crossed the Milky Way three times an hour.

Although Jansky’s lab notebooks were lost, his regular correspondence with his parents has provided us with a detailed account of how he finally tracked down the source of the faint hiss.

On 18 January 1932, Karl Jansky wrote:

“The peculiar thing about this static is that the direction from which it comes changes gradualy [sic] and what is most interesting always comes from a direction that is the same or very nearly the same as the direction the sun is from the antenna.”

But by March, Jansky became puzzled because, during January and February, the direction of his hiss noise had gradually shifted so that now it no longer coincided with the Sun.

Distracted by his other Laboratory responsibilities, nearly a year went by before Jansky was able to return to his “star noise.”  On 15 February 1933, he wrote to his father…

“My records show that the hiss type static mentioned in my previous paper comes, not from the sun as I suggested in that paper, but from a direction fixed in space. The evidence I now have is very conclusive and, I think, very startling.”

On 27 April 1933, Jansky made a short 12-minute presentation at the meeting of the US National Committee for the International Union for Radio Science (URSI).  Jansky’s Bell Labs boss, Harald Friis, pressured Jansky not to make an extraordinary claim, so the paper had the innocuous title, A Note on Hiss Type Atmospheric Noise, which he wrote to his father, “meant nothing to anybody.” The following week, the 5 May 1933 edition of The New York Times carried the headline, Radio Waves from the Centre of the Galaxy.

Outside of his work, Jansky was an enthusiastic athlete and excelled in many sports and pastimes. He starred at right-wing on the University of Wisconsin Badgers Ice Hockey team. He had the highest batting average as the catcher on the Bell Labs softball team and was the table tennis champion of New Jersey using a homemade racket. He enjoyed golf, tennis, bowling, sailing, and skiing, and he was a competitive bridge player and passionate birder.

Karl Jansky’s 1933 discovery of cosmic radio emission laid the foundation for the many subsequent discoveries by radio astronomers which have changed our understanding of the Universe and its constituents. These include radio galaxies, quasars, pulsars, the cosmic microwave background, gravitational lensing, interstellar molecules, cosmic masers, dark matter, extra-solar planets, and the first observational evidence for gravitational radiation and for cosmic evolution.

Following the publication of his discovery of cosmic radio emission, Jansky had only limited opportunity to continue this research, as his time was increasingly taken by other Bell Labs priorities.  In 1949 Jansky was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics but this was before the significance of his work was widely appreciated.  Nevertheless, his legacy has been recognized in many ways.

In 1973 IAU General Assembly resolved that the name ‘Jansky,’ abbreviated ‘Jy’ be adopted as the unit of flux density in radio astronomy and that this unit, equal to 10^-26 Wm^-2Hz^-1, be incorporated into the international system of physical units. Although originally intended to define only the unit of radio flux density, the Jansky has become the de facto unit for measurements throughout the electromagnetic spectrum

The annual Karl Jansky Lectures were established by the trustees of AUI and NRAO to recognize outstanding contributions to the advancement of radio astronomy.

For more information about Karl Jansky and the history of radio astronomy, check out the NRAO/AUI Archives: https://www.nrao.edu/archives/

The post Jansky @90: The Origins of a New Window on the Universe appeared first on National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

A new exhibition series celebrating New Mexico’s dark skies will include rare nighttime photography of the National Science Foundation’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) by astrophotographer Bettymaya Foott. Dark Sky Land Exhibition Series No. 1 / DARK – The Astronomers, which features images from 20 photographers and artifacts from the Astronomical Lyceum Collection, opens on May 6th at Warehouse 1-10 in Magdalena.

Foott was hired by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in early 2022 to capture the VLA under dark, pristine skies through multiple seasons—a sight few people ever see, and even fewer are able to photograph. To protect visitors, staff, the site, and the science—which, while not directly impacted by light pollution, is negatively impacted by radio frequency interference from high-tech devices like digital cameras—the VLA has strict protocols regarding photography at all times, and it isn’t open to the public at night. Foott’s sanctioned shoots further required months of planning and coordination with the VLA’s engineers and operators. This makes the image series borne of the shoot extremely rare.

Combined with uncertain and rapidly changing weather, capturing professional photography of the VLA— and particularly under dark skies—can be more difficult than it might appear, as Foott learned first-hand when she caught a lightning storm rolling up behind the VLA on the Plains of San Agustin during an approved shoot last year.

“I was thrilled to work with NRAO to capture the VLA as it is rarely seen, with a pristine night sky above,” said Foott. “I was a bit sad when I saw the clouds rolling in after driving six hours to capture the stars, but was happily surprised when the lightning storm started. It was at a safe distance away from our location, so we were safe to click away and capture the magic of that moment.” 

Foott’s photo is presented alongside the work of 19 additional astrophotographers who have captured the wonder of the night sky in New Mexico. Also the title of a night sky environmental movement in New Mexico, the Dark Sky Land exhibit celebrates the community’s effort to protect a 100-mile astronomical corridor— which starts on HWY 60 at Magdalena Ridge Observatory and passes through the VLA on its way westward under one of the darkest skies remaining in North America—from the effects of light pollution on astronomy, human health, wildlife, and the environment. Foott, who also serves as the Director of Engagement for the International Dark-Sky Association, engages in similar efforts globally on a daily basis. 

“Local dark sky efforts are incredibly important to connect people with the magic of a light pollution-free sky,” said Foott. “We have seen that local efforts to protect the night are the most effective and powerful way to reduce light pollution and build local coalitions of dark sky advocates. We are so grateful for the efforts of the Dark Sky Land team to raise awareness about the benefits of dark sky conservation.”

Presented in collaboration with Magnetic Laboratorium, Dark Sky Land is co-curated by Catherine De Maria and Marisela La Grave, and runs through June 17th. The exhibit is open for viewing May 6 through 7 from 11am to 4pm, or by appointment at 575-517-0669. A full list of featured photographers and additional information is available on the Warehouse 1-10 website at https://www.warehouse110.com. For more information about the Dark Sky Land movement, visit https://darkskylandfilm.com/.

Foott’s full series of photos, shot in collaboration with NRAO and VLA staff, is being released throughout 2023 at https://public.nrao.edu and on NRAO’s social media.  

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a major facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

Media Contact:

Amy C. Oliver
Public Information & News Manager
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
+1 434-242-9584
[email protected]

The post Rare Nighttime Photography of Very Large Array Featured in Exhibition at Warehouse 1-10 appeared first on National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

Scientists studying the supermassive black hole at the heart of the M87 galaxy have revealed the origins of the monster’s powerful jet and imaged the jet and its source together for the first time. What’s more, the observations have revealed that the black hole’s ring is much larger than scientists previously believed. The observations published today in Nature.

The Global mm-VLBI Array (GMVA) united radio telescopes around the world to produce these new results, including the National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and Green Bank Observatory (GBO), Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), and Green Bank Telescope (GBT). 

The SMBH at the center of the M87 galaxy is the most recognizable in the Universe. It was the first black hole to be captured in an image, created by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) and made public in 2019. The image of its dense, dark core framed by an amorphous glowing ring made international headlines.

“M87 has been observed over many decades, and 100 years ago we knew the jet was there, but we couldn’t place it in context,” said Ru-Sen Lu, an astronomer at the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, leader of a Max Planck Research Group at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and lead author of the new paper. “With GMVA, including the premier instruments at NRAO and GBO, we’re observing at a lower frequency so we’re seeing more detail— and now we know there are more details to see.”

Eduardo Ros, an astronomer and the Scientific Coordinator for Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy added, “We’ve seen the ring before, but now we see the jet. This puts the ring in context— and it’s bigger than we thought. If you think of it like a fire-breathing monster, before, we could see the dragon and the fire, but now we can see the dragon breathing the fire.” 

Using many different telescopes and instruments gave the team a more complete view of the structure of the supermassive black hole and its jet than was previously possible with EHT, and all of the telescopes were required to paint a full picture. While VLBA provided a full view of both the jet and the black hole, ALMA allowed the scientists to resolve M87’s bright radio core, and create a sharp picture. The sensitivity of the GBT’s 100-meter collecting surface enabled astronomers to resolve both the large and small-scale parts of the ring and see the finer details.

“The original EHT imaging revealed only a portion of the accretion disk surrounding the center of the black hole. By changing the observing wavelengths from 1.3 millimeters to 3.5 millimeters, we can see more of the accretion disk, and now the jet, at the same time. This revealed that the ring around the black hole is 50 percent larger than we previously believed,” said scientist Toney Minter, GMVA coordinator for the GBT. 

Not only are the parts of the black hole bigger than shorter wavelength observations previously revealed, but it is now possible to confirm the origin of the jet. This jet was born from the energy created by the magnetic fields surrounding the spinning core of the black hole and winds rising up from the black hole’s accretion disk. 

“These results showed—for the first time—where the jet is being formed. Prior to this, there were two theories about where they might come from,” said Minter. “But this observation actually showed that the energy from the magnetic fields and the winds are working together.”

Harshal Gupta, NSF Program Officer for the Green Bank Observatory, added, “This discovery is a powerful demonstration of how telescopes possessing complementary capabilities can be used to fundamentally advance our understanding of astronomical objects and phenomena. It is exciting to see the different types of radio telescopes supported by NSF work synergistically as important elements of the GMVA to enable the big picture view of M87’s black hole and jet.”

The Green Bank Observatory and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory are major facilities of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

About ALMA

ALMA construction and operations are led by ESO on behalf of its Member States; by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), managed by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI), on behalf of North America; and by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) on behalf of East Asia. The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning and operation of ALMA.

The post NSF Telescopes Image M87’s Supermassive Black Hole and Massive Jet Together for the First Time appeared first on National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

Artificial lasers on Earth are used for everything from scanning grocery items to delicate surgery. But there are also naturally occurring lasers known as astrophysical masers. Join our host Summer Ash of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory as she talks about what these “space lasers” tell astronomers about the Universe.

View on Vimeo

The post Baseline 15: Space Lasers! How Astronomers Use Astrophysical Masers appeared first on National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

As a part of its central mission to nurture and inspire the next generation of radio astronomers, the National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) has selected four outstanding early career professionals for its 2023 Jansky Fellowship. 

The Jansky Fellowship encourages early career astronomy and engineering professionals to pursue their personal research interests through the lens of radio astronomy, and with the support of NRAO’s observatories and research and engineering resources. Appointed for two years, with the opportunity to renew for a third year, Jansky Fellows develop broad skill sets and establish themselves are innovative, independent research scientists and engineers, and top leaders in the field by deepening their understanding of radio astronomy while collaborating with NRAO scientific staff and their colleagues in the global astrophysics community. 

Cosima Eibensteiner graduated from the University of Vienna in Austria in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and communication science, and a master’s degree in Astronomy. She is now attending the University of Bonn in Germany, where she is pursuing her PhD in Astronomy at the Argelander Institute of Astronomy. Cosima’s research interests include the structure, evolution, chemistry and kinematics of the interstellar medium (ISM), from large scale disk properties to central molecular zones in nearby galaxies. Her thesis, which utilized data from NSF’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), NSF’s Green Bank Telescope (GBT), MeerKAT and IRAM, focused on disentangling the physical and chemical processes that shape and govern the ISM. As a member of the PHANGS collaboration, Cosima is studying stellar nurseries in nearby disk galaxies. As a Jansky Fellow at NRAO in Charlottesville, Virginia, Cosima will expand her research into the effects of the ISM on star formation processes.

David Monasterio
David Monasterio received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Universidad de Chile in 2023, where the focus of his dissertation research was new heterodyne receiver architectures for the next generation of astronomical receivers, like those that will be utilized on the next generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) and other radio telescopes. David’s primary research interests are in both heterodyne receivers and RF components design. As a Jansky Fellow at NRAO’s Central Development Laboratory (CDL), David will continue his dissertation research in new heterodyne receiver architectures, focusing in particular on multiband heterodyne receivers with the possibility to cover the entire RF spectrum instantaneously.

Hendrik Müller 

Hendrik Müller is currently working on a PhD in astrophysics at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany. During his studies, Hendrik developed novel VLBI imaging algorithms along the lines of multiscalar imaging in the spirit of compressive sensing and multiobjective evolutionary optimization, which are an improvement in resolution, accuracy and supervision over the CLEAN algorithm. He is currently studying the application of these new algorithms to frontline VLBI projects in preparation for the next generation of high-resolution and high-sensitivity radio interferometers, including the next generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) and next generation Event Horizon Telescope (ngEHT). As a Jansky Fellow at NRAO in Socorro, New Mexico, Hendrik will focus on the development of imaging and calibration tools for the ngVLA using artificial intelligence applications.

Samantha Scibelli
Samantha Scibelli is currently working on a PhD in astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, USA. Samantha’s research interests include submillimeter studies of the complex chemistry and physical properties of starless and prestellar cores to clarify the initial conditions of low-mass star and planet formation.  During observations for her dissertation, she detected a prevalence of complex organic molecules (COMs) in young starless and prestellar cores in the Taurus Molecular Cloud (TMC), causing her to ask, “How are COMs forming so early?” As a Jansky Fellow at NRAO in Charlottesville, Samantha will continue to investigate the COM formation pathways using the Green Bank Observatory (GBO) legacy GLUCOSE program in combination with detailed chemical modeling of prestellar cores.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

The post 2023 Jansky Fellows Awarded appeared first on National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

In December 2022, astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) confirmed the discovery of one of the most distant galaxies ever observed. The faint radio light ALMA captured began its journey to us when the universe was less than 360 million years old. It’s a tremendously distant galaxy, but just how far away is it really? The answer is a bit complicated, and it depends on what you mean by distance.

To begin with, astronomers can’t directly measure the distance of galaxies billions of light years away. Instead, they measure what is known as redshift, or z. In this case, the team measured a particular wavelength of light emitted by oxygen known as OIII. When we observe the OIII emission line in a lab here on Earth, it has a wavelength of 88 micrometers. The OIII line ALMA observed in this particular galaxy was much longer, about 1,160 micrometers. Since red light has a longer wavelength than blue light, we say the observed OII line is shifted to the red, or redshifted. Given these two numbers, calculating z is easy. It is just the relative redshift of the observed light, So z = (1160 – 88)/88 = 12.2 The bigger the z, the greater the redshift, and z = 12.2 is the largest confirmed redshift of a galaxy so far. 

So what does this have to do with distance? There are two ways light from a galaxy can be redshifted. The first is known as the Doppler shift and is caused by the physical motion of a galaxy through space. You’re probably familiar with this effect in sound. When a train speeds past you, its horn sounds higher as the train approaches you and lower as it passes you and rolls away. The sound waves are bunched up as the train moves toward you and have a higher pitch, and they are stretched out as the train moves away from you, thus a lower pitch. The same thing happens with light. If a galaxy is moving toward us its light is blueshifted, and the light is redshifted if it’s moving away from us.

The second way redshift can occur is through cosmic expansion. The universe is expanding, and this means as light travels to us from a distant galaxy its wavelength is stretched out by the expansion of space. The longer the light travels the more the light is stretched, so the more the light is redshifted.  This is known as cosmological redshift. For distant galaxies, almost all the redshift we observe is cosmological. This is how we know high redshift galaxies such as this one are very, very far away.

But this still doesn’t tell us the specific distance. To determine that we have to look at how the universe expands over time. Right now there’s a bit of uncertainty about the rate of cosmic expansion, known as the Hubble parameter. The Planck mission observations of the cosmic microwave background put the value at about 68 (km/s)/Mpc, while observations of the Hubble and Gaia spacecraft give it a higher value of about 72 (km/s)/Mpc. The bigger the value, the faster the universe is expanding and the farther away distant galaxies are. If we pick a middle value of 70 (km/s)/Mpc, then we can calculate a reasonable distance using general relativity, but even then our answer will depend on how we define distance.

One definition would be to ask how long the light traveled from the galaxy to us. This is known as the light travel time and turns out to be about 13.1 billion years. Since the universe is about 13.46 billion years old (based on the Hubble parameter we chose), that means the light left the galaxy when the universe was about 360 million years old. This definition is useful for astronomers since distant galaxies tell us about the early universe. It’s more important for astronomers to know a galaxy’s place in history than its distance.

Since the light traveled for 13.1 billion years, does that mean the galaxy is 13.1 billion light-years away? Not quite. Because of cosmic expansion, the light traveled for much longer than it would have if the universe wasn’t expanding. The galaxy was closer to us when the light began its journey. Much closer. If we calculate how far away the galaxy was from us 13.1 billion years ago, we get 2.4 billion light-years. So this galaxy was only 2.4 billion light years away, but the universe expanded so much that its light took 13.1 billion light-years to reach us.

Of course, you probably want to know how far away the galaxy is now. Sure, the galaxy was 2.4 billion light years away, but once the light started heading our way the galaxy continued to move away from us because of the ever-expanding universe. So where is the galaxy now? If you do the math, it turns out the galaxy is now about 32 billion light-years away. But wait a minute? How can we see a galaxy 32 billion light-years away if the universe is less than 14 billion years old? The answer is that we can’t. ALMA’s view of the galaxy is how it looked when it was only 2.4 billion light-years away. We will never be able to see what the galaxy looks like now. It is too far away, and the universe is expanding too quickly for that light to reach us. We only see the optical echo of where it was and how it used to appear.

All of this is strange enough to tie anyone’s brain into a knot. This is why astronomers focus on the redshift z, and why we usually talk about how old the universe was when the galactic light began its journey. That’s enough to tell us that the galaxy is far away and seen from long ago. So long ago and so far away that its distance is hard to define. 

The post Far, Far Away: Just How Distant Is That Galaxy? appeared first on National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

The NHFP fosters excellence and leadership in NASA astrophysics by supporting some of the most promising and innovative young astrophysicists.

A Rain of Icy Particles Is Affecting the Giant Planet's Weather

Buy VLA Open House Tickets

The post Very Large Array Spring Open House – April 1, 2023 appeared first on National Radio Astronomy Observatory.