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Image of the Week

Check out the archive for our #RADIOIMAGEOFTHEWEEK

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Emission Lines
Jun 8, 2024

What are Emission Lines?

Inside a spectrometer, a beam of white light (typical incandescent light bulb, sunlight, etc.) is broken into its actual...

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VLA antenna and double rainbow
Jun 1, 2024

Double Rainbow over the VLA

The Very Large Array may sit in the New Mexico desert, but it's not always dry. Summer monsoons bring...

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ALMA antennas and Front End Service Vehicle
May 25, 2024

Maintenance Vehicle that caters to all antenna sizes

The Front End Service Vehicle raises 20 feet high to service a 7-meter Japanese ALMA telescope. The FESV is...

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VLA antennas and The Barn
May 18, 2024

VLA Dish Dipped in the Barn

A rare view of a dipped 25-meter dish antenna of the Very Large Array undergoing maintenance inside the Antenna...

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GBT surface panels and actuators
May 11, 2024

Busy Little Robots

Each of the Green Bank Telescope's 2004 surface panels is adjusted by a small, computer-controlled motor called an actuator,...

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Painters painting the GBT's surface
May 4, 2024

Ants on a Plate

From over 200 feet above them, painters look like ants on the 2.3 acre dish of the Green Bank...

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Apr 27, 2024

Telescope Comparison

Sited at 16,500 ft above sea level, ALMA is the highest array of telescopes in the world. This diagram...

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300-foot telescope
Apr 20, 2024

300-foot Masterpiece

The 300-foot telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia after its completion in September 1962.

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The Atacama Millimeter/submillimeter Array
Apr 13, 2024

ALMA in its Compact Formation

ALMA's antennas can be rearranged to simulate a single, big telescope or a very widespread array. In this smaller...

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Apr 6, 2024

VLA / Orion at Blue Hour

Photo taken by Bettymaya Foott as part of an astrophotography project with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and the...

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The VLA
Mar 30, 2024

Sunrise at the VLA

Sunrise breaks over the Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico.

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Mar 23, 2024

Molecules in the disc around the star IRS 48

These images from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) show where various gas molecules were found in the disc...

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Mar 16, 2024

Virgo’s NGC 4567 and NGC 4568

NGC 4567 and NGC 4568 are two of the thousands of galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, located roughly 65...

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Mar 9, 2024

Ram Pressure Stripped Galaxy NGC4921

Shown here in composite view, ALMA data (red/orange) reveals filament structures left behind by ram pressure stripping in a...

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Mar 2, 2024

Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov

Artist impression of the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov as it travels through our solar system. This mysterious visitor from the...

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Feb 24, 2024

Artist illustration of Antares’ Atmosphere

Artist impression of the atmosphere of Antares. As seen with the naked eye (up until the photosphere), Antares is...

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Pulsar escaping SNR
Feb 17, 2024

Cannonball Pulsar

Observations using the Very Large Array (orange) reveal the needle-like trail of pulsar J0002+6216 outside the shell of its...

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Illustration highlighting ALMA's high-frequency observing capabilities
Feb 10, 2024

ALMA’s Highest-Frequency Capabilities

A team of scientists using the highest-frequency capabilities of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has uncovered jets of...

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Artist impression of the collision of two stars
Feb 3, 2024

Artist Impression of CK Vul

Artist impression of the collision of two stars, like the ones that formed CK Vul. The inset illustrates the...

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ALMA image of U Antliae shell
Jan 27, 2024

Aging Star Blows Off Smoky Bubble

This ALMA image reveals much finer structure in the U Antliae shell than has previously been possible. Around 2700...

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W50
Jan 20, 2024

A Wobbling Jet

Inside the famous Manatee Nebula (W50) lies the black hole remnant of the supernova that formed it, called SS...

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Infographic of Yarkovsky Effect
Jan 13, 2024

Yarkovsky Effect

Just as the afternoon is the warmest part of the day on Earth, the space rock develops a warm...

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Radar image of craters on The Moon
Jan 6, 2024

Craters in Radar

Partial mosaic of 70 cm radar images of nearside of the moon taken by the Green Bank Telescope (GBT)...

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Parallax measurement illustration.
Dec 23, 2023

The Parallax Technique

The parallax technique determines distance by measuring the angle of apparent shift in an object's position, as seen from...

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NGC 3596
Dec 16, 2023

Old, New, and Future Stars in NGC 3596

This gorgeous face-on spiral galaxy is called NGC 3596. This image combines Hydrogen-alpha emission (red), visible light in the...

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M51
Dec 9, 2023

The Collision of M51

In this composite image of the Whirlpool Galaxy, the Very Large Array has captured the vastness of this colliding...

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Illustration of the formation of a young star system.
Dec 2, 2023

Outflows from a Young Solar System

Astronomers have found the youngest still-forming solar system yet seen, an infant star surrounded by a swirling disk of...

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Moon as seen by ALMA
Nov 25, 2023

Moon as seen by ALMA

First radio image of the Moon taken with a 12-meter ALMA antenna. The optical image at left shows the...

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Fornax A
Nov 11, 2023

Flaming Fornax Galaxy

Radio waves are invisible to our eyes, therefore, they do not arrive in any "color" that we've ever known....

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The GBT
Oct 28, 2023

In a Frame of Color

The Green Bank Telescope (GBT) is always picture-perfect when autumn comes to its gorgeous West Virginia home.

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Labeled map of Galactic Center
Oct 21, 2023

Labeled Map of Our Galaxy’s Center

The diagonal line of bright objects in this image of the heart of our Milky Way Galaxy are all...

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Hercules A
Oct 14, 2023

Hercules A

The Very Large Array sees fountains of hot gas erupting from a beastly black hole in the heart of...

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Boomerange Nebula
Oct 7, 2023

Boomerang Nebula

The Boomerang Nebula reveals its true shape with ALMA. The background purple structure, as seen in visible light (HST),...

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Artist's conception of particle acceleration in a solar flare.
Sep 30, 2023

VLA Yields New Insights on Solar Flares

Artist's conception of particle acceleration in a solar flare.

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Combined and separate images of Supernova 1987A
Sep 23, 2023

The Dawn of a New Era for Supernova 1987A

Astronomers combined observations from three different observatories to produce this colorful, multiwavelength image of the intricate remains of Supernova...

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North Pole of the Moon
Sep 16, 2023

North Pole of the Moon

Radar maps can look like optical images, but they represent the amount of energy reflected back toward the transmitter...

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WMAP Amplifiers
Sep 9, 2023

WMAP Amplifiers

Centimeter-wave radio astronomy receivers (under 50 GHz) now almost universally use cooled HFET (heterostructure field-effect transistor) amplifiers as the...

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Pie Town VLBA station in snow
Sep 2, 2023

VLBA Pie Town antenna surrounded by snow-covered landscape

The Pie Town, New Mexico antenna is one of ten identical antennas, which are located throughout the northern hemisphere,...

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ALMA correlator
Aug 26, 2023

ALMA’s Supercomputer

The four-quadrant ALMA Correlator inside the Array Operations Site Technical Building at 16,500 feet elevation in northern Chile. This...

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VLA L-band feed horn
Aug 19, 2023

Trucking a Giant Feed Horn

The L-band feed horn is one of the largest feed horns used on our radio telescopes. The size of...

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Anechoic chamber at Green Bank
Aug 12, 2023

Anechoic Chamber

Manmade radio signals (from wireless devices, orbiting satellites, spark plugs, microwave ovens, etc.) swamp the weak waves we detect...

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VLA Transporter tracks
Aug 5, 2023

VLA’s Miles of Old Tracks

Over 80 miles of train track, re-purposed from old, discontinued rail lines around the United States, allow the Very...

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Painters painting the GBT's surface
Jul 29, 2023

Painting the GBT

Each of the 2004 aluminum panels of the 2.3 acres of Green Bank Telescope's surface must be scraped and...

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Dave Ehnebuske
Jul 22, 2023

Replacing Hard Drives at the VLA in 1983

Dave Ehnebuske replaces cartridges of hard drives at the Very Large Array's computer facility in 1983.

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ALMA antennas in the snow
Jul 15, 2023

Snowstorm at ALMA

At 16,500 feet in the Chilean Andes, ALMA experiences some extreme weather conditions. They don't last long, but they...

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Jul 8, 2023

A Thousand Points of Light

The 2004 panels of the Green Bank Telescope have apple-sized reflector bulbs embedded in them. Engineers can light the...

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Jun 24, 2023

Green Bank Telescope

The Green Bank Telescope is the world's largest, fully-steerable telescope. The GBT's dish is 100-meters by 110-meters in size,...

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Jun 17, 2023

The First Short GRB Millimeter Afterglow: The Wide-Angled Jet of Gamma Ray Burst 211106A

In a first for radio astronomy, scientists have detected millimeter-wavelength light from a short-duration gamma-ray burst. This artist's conception...

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Jun 10, 2023

VLBA Finds Planet Orbiting Small, Cool Star

Using the supersharp radio “vision” of the National Science Foundation’s continent-wide Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), astronomers have discovered...

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Jun 3, 2023

Neutron star in Supernova 1987A

This artist's illustration of Supernova 1987A shows the dusty inner regions of the exploded star's remnants (red), in which...

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May 27, 2023

FBOTs, Gamma-Ray Bursts, and Supernovae

Artist's conception illustrates the differences in phenomena resulting from an "ordinary" core-collapse supernova explosion, an explosion creating a gamma-ray...

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ALMA antennas
May 13, 2023

55 antennas on Chajnantor plains

ALMA with 55 antennas in March 2013. The Atacama Compact Array is clearly visible as the tightly-grouped set of...

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May 6, 2023

Aligned and Misaligned Circumbinary Disks

Two examples of aligned and misaligned protoplanetary disks around binary stars (circumbinary disks), observed with ALMA. Binary star orbits...

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EHT image of event horizon in the central supermassive black hole of M87
Apr 29, 2023

Astronomers Capture First Image of a Black Hole

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) — a planet-scale array of eight ground-based radio telescopes forged through international collaboration —...

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NGC 4321
Apr 22, 2023

PHANGS-ALMA Radio Image of NGC 4321

ALMA image of galaxy NGC 4321, also known as Messier 100, an intermediate spiral galaxy located about 55 million...

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ALMA antenna and Transporter
Apr 15, 2023

ALMA and Otto

An ALMA antenna being moved at the Operations Support Facility (OSF) by Otto, one of the two specially designed...

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Brown Dwarf Artist's Conception
Apr 8, 2023

The Boundary Between Giant Planet and Brown Dwarf

Artist's conception of SIMP J01365663+0933473, an object with 12.7 times the mass of Jupiter, but a magnetic field 200...

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Artist impression of PSR J0337+1715
Apr 1, 2023

Even Dense Neutron Stars Fall like a Feather

Harnessing the exquisite sensitivity of the National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Telescope (GBT), astronomers have given one of Einstein’s...

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Gravitational lens diagram
Mar 11, 2023

Measuring Magnetic Fields

Artist's conception of gravitational lens arrangement that allowed astronomers to measure a galaxy's magnetic field. Magnetic fields affect radio...

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Artist impression of chaotic magnetic field lines very near a newly emerging protostar.
Mar 4, 2023

Chaotically Magnetized Cloud Is No Place to Build a Star, or Is It?

For decades, scientists thought that the magnetic field lines coursing around newly forming stars were both powerful and unyielding,...

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Region surrounding the Ser-emb 8 protostar
Feb 25, 2023

The Magnetic Field of Ser-emb 8

Texture represents the magnetic field orientation in the region surrounding the Ser-emb 8 protostar, as measured by ALMA. The...

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NGC 253
Feb 11, 2023

ALMA Sees Super Stellar Nurseries at Heart of Sculptor Galaxy

What is the recipe for starburst? Astronomers studied NGC 253 with ALMA to find out. These new ALMA data...

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Illustration of a pulsar inside the magnetic field around a black hole.
Feb 4, 2023

Measuring a Magnetic Field

In this artist's illustration, the black hole at the center of our Milky Way Galaxy has an intense magnetic...

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Diagram of the parallax technique, showing the Earth in different positions with respect to the sun at different times of years, and the subsequently different place on the sky that the Pleiades appears.
Jan 28, 2023

Measuring the Distance to the Pleiades

Using the parallax technique, astronomers observe object at opposite ends of Earth's orbit around the Sun to precisely measure...

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An illustration of the snowline of a protoplanetary disk around young star TW Hydrae.
Jan 21, 2023

Finding Ice in Baby Solar Systems

Artist concept of the so-called "snow line" in the young planet-forming system known as TW Hydrae. A snow line...

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Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1097
Jan 14, 2023

Composite image of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1097, including images from ALMA and HST

Composite image of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1097. By studying the motion of two molecules, ALMA was able...

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Grote Reber's original receiver
Jan 7, 2023

Grote Reber’s Receiver Exhibit

On exhibit in the Green Bank Science Center in West Virginia is the original receiver equipment used by radio...

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ALMA Transporters
Dec 31, 2022

ALMA Transporters ascend to the high site

The two ALMA Transporters, giant 28-wheeled trucks that lift, power, and haul the telescopes for major servicing or during...

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Dec 24, 2022

VLA Background 2

Try out this high definition image for your desktop or video chat background.

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VLA antennas, The Barn, and transporter
Dec 10, 2022

Looking Down on the VLA Barn

The Sun sets over the Antenna Assembly Building at the Very Large Array in central New Mexico. Inside the...

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Silhouette of ALMA antennas
Dec 3, 2022

Sunbeams Grace ALMA

Beams of sunshine are captured behind the distant mountains that ring the ALMA site in northern Chile. A...

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Tidal Disruption Event
Nov 26, 2022

Tidal Disruption Event in Arp 299

Artist's conception of Tidal Disruption Event (TDE) in Arp 299. Powerful gravity of supermassive black hole shreds passing star,...

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Nov 19, 2022

Band 6 SIS Mixer

The largest millimeter array in the world relies on the tiniest electronic parts. These are mixers for the receivers...

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Nov 5, 2022

Amidst the Antennas of the LWA

These are the four-sided dipole antennas of the Long Wavelength Array on the site of the Very Large Array...

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ALMA antennas at night
Oct 29, 2022

Ghostly Glow of ALMA at Night

The green safety lights on the ALMA antennas provide the only light for this long-exposure photograph at the 16,500-foot...

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False color image of protoplanetary disks side by side. Left is a ring disk showing blue scattered outer ring, green inner rings with gaps, and a yellow core. Center is a transition disk with a thin outer blue ring and thin green and yellow rings, and a large empty cavity in the center. Right is a compact small disk with thin blue and green rings, and a large inner yellow core with no gaps.
Oct 22, 2022

Protoplanetary Disks Side-by-Side Comparison

Protoplanetary disks are classified into three main categories: transition, ring, or extended. These false-color images from the Atacama Large...

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SPT2319-55
Oct 15, 2022

ALMA Observes Most Distant Galactic Outflow

ALMA, aided by a gravitational lens, imaged the outflow, or "wind," from a galaxy seen when the universe was...

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Oct 1, 2022

Brown Dwarf and its Magnetic Field

Artist's conception of a brown dwarf -- an object intermediate in mass between a star and a planet --...

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VLASS Comparison
Sep 24, 2022

Sharper Image of Galaxy with VLASS

The sharpest radio view ever made of such a large portion of the sky! This galaxy, observed by the...

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Sep 17, 2022

VLA Background 7

Try out this high definition image for your desktop or video chat background.

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Sep 3, 2022

Shells of Exploded Stars

This is a 3-false color image of the region surrounding the W28 supernova remnant (SNR) that is located in...

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Aug 13, 2022

Double Sunset on a ‘Tatooine’ Exoplanet

Artist impression of a double sunset on a 'Tatooine' exoplanet forming in a circumbinary disk that is misaligned with...

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Asteroid occultation illustration
Aug 6, 2022

VLBA Sees Diffraction Patterns Caused by Asteroid

Radio waves from a distant galaxy were blocked from view by an asteroid in our Solar System. However, in...

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Artist's conception of the VLBA
Jul 16, 2022

VLBA Global Locations

Artist's conception of the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), a continent-wide radio telescope system. The VLBA is an interferometer...

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VLA antenna and transporter
Jul 9, 2022

Ease on Down the Road

On a schedule that runs throughout the year, the 27 antennas of the Very Large Array in New Mexico...

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SN 1993J
Jun 18, 2022

The Expansion of Supernova 1993j

SN 1993J was discovered March 28, 1993, by Francisco Garcia Diaz, an amateur astronomer in Lugo, Spain, using a...

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Radio image of supernova remnant G55.7+3.4
Jun 11, 2022

Glowing Bubble of an Exploded Star

Radio image of supernova remnant G55.7+3.4 shows previously-unseen filamentary structure, thanks to enhancements made to the Very Large Array...

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Cassiopeia A
Jun 4, 2022

Cassiopeia A

Cassiopeia A is the remnant of a supernova explosion that appeared in our sky over 300 years ago in...

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Radio and infrared composite of cloudy gas and stars.
May 21, 2022

Stars Forming in our Galaxy’s Heart

The Galactic Center and the surrounding Central Molecular Zone make up the most active star formation region in the...

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Radio galaxy 3C321
Apr 30, 2022

Black Hole Fires Jet at Companion Galaxy

This composite image of the radio galaxy 3C321 shows the jet from a black hole at the center of...

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Sagittarius A
Apr 16, 2022

Sagittarius A

The center of our Milky Way Galaxy is anchored by a black hole that is nearly 5 million times...

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Artist impression of Abell 2597
Apr 2, 2022

Inflow, Outflow Cycle of Gas Near Black Hole

Artist impression of Abell 2597 showing the central supermassive black hole expelling cold, molecular gas -- like the pump...

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Optical and ALMA images of a sunspot
Mar 26, 2022

ALMA Spies Sunspots

This image of the entire Sun was taken at a wavelength of 617.3 nanometers. Light at this wavelength originates...

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Mar 19, 2022

Volcanoes on Io

Composite image showing Jupiter's moon Io in radio (ALMA), and optical light (Voyager 1 and Galileo). The ALMA images...

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Radar image of Venus
Mar 12, 2022

Venus as Seen in Radar with the GBT

A projection of the radar data of Venus collected in 2012. Striking surface features -- like mountains and ridges...

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ALMA image of Jupiter's moon Europa
Mar 5, 2022

ALMA Observation of Europa

ALMA image of Jupiter's moon Europa. ALMA was able to map out thermal variations on its surface. Hubble image...

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Remnant of Supernova 1987A
Feb 26, 2022

Heart of an Exploded Star Observed in 3-D

Remnant of Supernova 1987A as seen by ALMA. Purple area indicates emission from SiO molecules. Yellow area is emission...

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Artist impression of galaxy at the center of the Phoenix Cluster
Feb 19, 2022

The Center of the Phoenix Cluster

Artist impression of galaxy at the center of the Phoenix Cluster. Powerful radio jets from the supermassive black hole...

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Titan
Feb 12, 2022

HC3N in Titan’s Lower Atmosphere

ALMA image of the distribution of the organic molecule HC3N at intermediate-to-lower elevations in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon...

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G21.5-0.9
Jan 29, 2022

Pulsar Wind Nebula

This beautiful cloud of gas exploded outward when the star in its center went supernova and turned into a...

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Jan 15, 2022

ALMA Mosaic Star Cluster

Image of star cluster G286.21+0.17, caught in the act of formation. This is a multiwavelength mosaic of more than...

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Dec 25, 2021

Magnetic Field of a Spiral Galaxy

An image from the VLA dramatically reveals the huge extent of the magnetic field of a spiral galaxy seen...

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Artist impression of VLA and FRB
Dec 18, 2021

Fast Radio Burst tracked down by VLA

For the first time, astronomers pinpointed the location of a fast radio burst (FRB), which is a phenomena where...

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Dec 11, 2021

Artist impression of distant, dusty galaxy

Artist impression of what the distant, dusty galaxy called MAMBO-9 would look like in visible light. The galaxy has...

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Dec 4, 2021

Artist impression of the merging galaxy NGC 6240

Artist impression of the merging galaxy NGC 6240.

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Nov 20, 2021

The Active Galactic Nucleus of 3C 120

Still image from an animation depicting the jets emitted by the black hole in galaxy 3C 120.

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Radio image of the protoplanetary disk around young star HL Tau.
Nov 13, 2021

HL Tau: Birth of Planets Revealed in Astonishing Detail

ALMA image of the young star HL Tau and its protoplanetary disk. This best image ever of planet formation...

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Nov 6, 2021

Wolfe Disk Artist Impression

Artist impression of the Wolfe Disk, a massive rotating disk galaxy in the early, dusty universe. The galaxy was...

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Oct 30, 2021

Comet 2I/Borisov Has an Unusual Composition

Interstellar comet 2I/Borisov, a mysterious visitor from the depths of space, is the first conclusively identified comet from another...

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Oct 23, 2021

A Spooky View of Galactic Gas

This image may look spooky to you, but astronomers see a galaxy. It was captured by the Very Large...

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Oct 16, 2021

PHANGS-ALMA Survey: NGC0628

While conducting a census of nearly 100 galaxies in the nearby Universe, the PHANGS survey observed NGC0628, a galaxy...

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An ALMA Front End
Oct 9, 2021

The Artistry of an ALMA Front End

Behind the dish of each ALMA antenna sits one of these Front Ends, the chilled coolers that hold the...

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ALMA images of protoplanetary disks
Oct 2, 2021

Twenty Protoplanetary Disks Imaged by ALMA

A team of astronomers has conducted ALMA‘s first large-scale, high-resolution survey of protoplanetary disks. Known as the Disk Substructures...

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Antennae Galaxies
Sep 25, 2021

ALMA First Image

In this composite image of the merging cores of the Antennae Galaxies, optical (white and pink), radio (blue) and...

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Pie Town VLBA station at sunset
Sep 18, 2021

VLBA Pie Town at Sunset

The Sun sets behind the Pie Town, New Mexico telescope of the Very Long Baseline Array. This 25-meter dish...

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Sep 11, 2021

Megamasers and Cosmology

Artist's conception illustrating a disk of water-bearing gas orbiting the supermassive black hole at the core of a distant...

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M33
Sep 4, 2021

The Triangulum Galaxy in Radio and Optical

Galaxies contain hundreds of billions of stars. They often group together in clusters, with a history of sharing and...

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HD 142527
Aug 28, 2021

ALMA Sees a Baby Solar System

Observations made with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope of the disc of gas and cosmic dust around...

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Artist's impression of disk around a brown dwarf
Aug 21, 2021

Artist’s impression of the disc of dust and gas around a brown dwarf

This artist’s impression shows the disc of gas and cosmic dust around a brown dwarf. Rocky planets are thought...

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M51
Aug 14, 2021

New View of the Whirlpool

This is the most detailed radio image of the Whirlpool Galaxy ever captured. The Very Large Array observed this...

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Composite image of CK Vul
Aug 7, 2021

First Detection of Aluminium Nuclear Isotope in Space

Composite image of CK Vul, the remains of a double-star collision. This impact launched radioactive molecules into space, as...

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Graphic illustrating how Millisecond Pulsars are formed
Jul 31, 2021

How to Make a Millisecond Pulsar

The diagram outlines each step needed to create a pulsar with a superfast spin. The Standard Scenario (1-4): 1. A...

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Artist Impression of star about to undergo supernova
Jul 17, 2021

Pulsar Escaping its Supernova Birthplace

Artist's animation of Pulsar J0002+6216 speeding away from its birthplace and escaping the shell of debris from the supernova...

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Jul 10, 2021

PHANGS-ALMA Survey: NGC1385

During a survey of nearly 100 galaxies in the nearby Universe, the PHANGS team observed NGC1385, a galaxy featuring...

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Galaxy from PHANGS-ALMA Survey
Jun 19, 2021

PHANGS-ALMA

ALMA is revealing new insights into the relationship between star-forming clouds and their host galaxies.

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Jun 5, 2021

04 – ALMA Top 10 – PHANGS: A New Survey Unravels the Relationship between Star-forming Clouds and their Host Galaxies.

Galaxies come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Some of the most significant differences among galaxies, however,...

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Antennae Galaxies
May 29, 2021

Antennae Galaxies

Hard to believe that this was once a pair of spiral galaxies. Undergoing a violent merger, the well-named Antennae...

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Phoenix Cluster
May 22, 2021

ALMA Discovers Unexpected Trove of Star-forming Gas in Phoenix Cluster

Video explaining the complex relationship between a supermassive black hole and its host galaxy in the Phoenix Cluster, as...

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Artist impression of very young galaxy in the early universe.
May 15, 2021

A Young Galaxy

Artist impression of very young galaxy in the early universe.

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The VLA
May 8, 2021

Lining up the VLA antennas

There are 27 dish antennas within the Very Large Array that are identical 25-meter telescopes working together as one....

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Image illustrating the detection of molecules found by ALMA in the Large Magellanic Cloud
May 2, 2021

Stellar Embryos in Nearby Dwarf Galaxy Contain Surprisingly Complex Organic Molecules

Astronomers using ALMA have uncovered chemical “fingerprints” of methanol, dimethyl ether, and methyl formate in the Large Magellanic Cloud....

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VLA Deep Field
Apr 24, 2021

VLA Deep Field

Staring at a small patch of sky for more than 50 hours with the ultra-sensitive Karl G. Jansky Very...

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Center of NGC 5643
Apr 17, 2021

Glowing Core of Brilliant Galaxy NGC 5643

This composite image shows the center of a galaxy named NGC 5643. This galaxy is located 55 million light-years...

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Artist's impression of distant galaxy
Apr 10, 2021

Milky Way-Like Galaxies in the Early Universe

Astronomers using ALMA have directly observed a pair of Milky Way-like galaxies seen as they appeared billions of years...

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Artist's impression of distant Milky Way-like galaxy
Apr 3, 2021

Illustration of a High Redshift Galaxy

Artist impression of a progenitor of Milky Way-like galaxy in the early universe with a background quasar shinning through...

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Mar 27, 2021

Long Wavelength Demonstrator Array

The Long Wavelength Array is a collection of 256 antennas stationed at the Very Large Array site outside Magdalena,...

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Composite image of Abell 2597
Mar 13, 2021

A Molecular Fountain In Abell 2597

Composite image of the Abell 2597 galaxy cluster showing the fountain-like flow of gas powered by the supermassive black...

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PSS J2322+1944
Mar 7, 2021

A Disk of Starforming Gas

Artist's conception of the disk of star-forming gas around the center of the galaxy hosting the quasar PSS J2322+1944....

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Still from video on ALMA
Feb 27, 2021

#WAWUA – ALMA Observes the Invisible Universe

With colorful artwork and clever animations, these short videos delve into topics that explain the fundamentals of radio astronomy,...

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Feb 20, 2021

ngVLA Artist Impressions: Time Domain, Cosmology, Physics Sketches

In June of 2017, NRAO invited four artists to a conference at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology...

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Students using the 40-foot telescope
Feb 13, 2021

Students Use the 40-foot

The 40-foot telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia is used as an educational instrument.

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Series of radio images of FIRST J1419+3940 from 1993 to 2017
Jan 30, 2021

Orphan GRB Discovered with VLASS

Series of radio images of FIRST J1419+3940 from 1993 to 2017 show its slow fade. Astronomers comparing data from...

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Giant Antenna in Nancay, France
Jan 16, 2021

Giant Antenna in Nancay, France

In Nancay, France looms this enormous radio telescope. This portion of it is a section of a sphere that...

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Still from video on ALMA
Dec 19, 2020

#WAWUA – ALMA and the Cold Interstellar Clouds

With colorful artwork and clever animations, these short videos delve into topics that explain the fundamentals of radio astronomy,...

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Artist's conception of radio waves hitting antennas
Dec 13, 2020

ALMA’s Radio Wave Path

In this animation, the radio waves received from objects in space reflect off of ALMA antenna dishes and come...

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Radio jets from the supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy in the Phoenix Cluster
Nov 14, 2020

ALMA Sees Into the Heart of the Phoenix Cluster

ALMA image of cold molecular gas at the heart of the Phoenix Cluster. The filaments extending from the center...

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VLA Transporter
Oct 31, 2020

A VLA Transporter stopped on the tracks

There are only two Antenna Transporters at the Very Large Array that are used to move antennas into new...

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Radio-emitting mini-halo in Perseus Cluster
Oct 10, 2020

VLA Gives New Insight Into Galaxy Cluster’s Spectacular “Mini-Halo”

Astronomers using the National Science Foundation’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) have discovered new details that are...

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Oct 3, 2020

Fast Blue Optical Transients

Artist's conception illustrates the phenomena that make up the new class of cosmic explosions called Fast Blue Optical Transients.

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ALMA antennas and the Milky Way
Sep 26, 2020

Milky Way Over ALMA

In its high-elevation site, where the atmospheric pressure is half what it is at sea level, ALMA's views of...

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Arp 299
Aug 30, 2020

Arp 299

This colliding pair of galaxies is a region of vigorous star formation which has been investigated for many years....

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Campbell M. Wade
Aug 22, 2020

Campbell Wade

Campbell M. Wade came to Green Bank, West Virginia in 1960. He had been an astronomer trained at Harvard...

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NGC 253
Jul 25, 2020

NGC 253: Why Starburst Galaxies Burst

Animation of ALMA data reveals a diffuse envelope of carbon monoxide gas (shown in red), which surrounds stellar nurseries...

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Downloadable poster of an earlier ALMA observation of Europa
Jul 4, 2020

Europa, The Water Moon of Jupiter Poster

Downloadable poster of an ALMA observation of Europa. This intriguing image of Jupiter's moon, Europa, was acquired with the...

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Comparison of NVSS, FIRST, and VLASS images.
Jun 27, 2020

VLASS Sharpens the View

The new VLA Sky Survey (VLASS) sharpens the view. Here is the same radio-emitting object as seen, from left...

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May 31, 2020

A Universe Full of Radio Galaxies

Radio galaxies are a subclass of active galactic nuclei (AGN) and, in most cases, display what is known as...

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ALMA antenna
May 24, 2020

ALMA Gets Its First Antenna

On September 23, 2009, the first ALMA antenna was installed on Pad 106 at the 5,050-meter elevation Llano Chajnantor...

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Images of AT2018cow
May 17, 2020

ALMA and VLA Images of AT2018cow

ALMA and VLA images of the mysterious new type of cosmic blast, AT2018cow at left. Visible-light image of outburst...

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May 3, 2020

Double Boomerang

This new image of galaxy PKS 2014-55, located 800 million light years from Earth, was made by NRAO scientist...

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Illustration of a protoplanetary disk around a young star MWC 480, with molecules in the foreground.
Apr 26, 2020

Hints that Prebiotic Chemistry Is Universal

Artist impression of the protoplanetary disk surrounding the young star MWC 480. ALMA has detected the complex organic molecule...

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Apr 19, 2020

Interpreting Science through Art. Time Domain Astronomy and the Next-Generation Very Large Array

In June of 2017, NRAO invited four artists to a conference at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology...

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Aerial photo of VLA antenna and The Barn
Apr 12, 2020

Early Days in the VLA Barn

In the 1970s, the Very Large Array was still under construction in the New Mexico desert. In this aerial...

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Apr 5, 2020

ngVLA: Together We See More

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has shown us young star systems where planets are forming. The next-generation Very...

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The VLA and ALMA prototype antennas
Mar 29, 2020

ALMA Test Facility and the VLA

When this aerial shot of the Very Large Array was taken, the ALMA Test Facility was still in place....

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The VLA
Mar 22, 2020

A Young VLA

The Very Large Array in December of 1979, one month after the final and 28th antenna had been delivered.

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ALMA images of rotating galaxies on a background from the Hubble Space Telescope
Mar 15, 2020

Astronomers Detect Whirlpool Movement in Early Galaxies

ALMA images of rotating galaxies in the early universe shown on a background from the Hubble Space Telescope.

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Radio image of Jupiter
Mar 8, 2020

A Comet Hits Jupiter

This pair of radio images taken by the Very Large Array (VLA) shows the planet Jupiter before (left -...

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OMC-1
Mar 1, 2020

ALMA and the OMC-1

This animation shows the motions of the gas streamers emanating from the OMC-1 star-forming region in Orion as seen...

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Photo of ten VLA antennas pointing at a cloudy sky at twilight.
Feb 23, 2020

A Cloudy Twilight at the VLA

Clouds linger at twilight over the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array in its most compact configuration.

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Image of part of the Orion Nebula
Feb 16, 2020

ALMA Reveals Inner Web of Stellar Nursery

This spectacular and unusual image shows part of the famous Orion Nebula, a star formation region lying about 1350...

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Artist's impression of white dwarf and pulsar
Feb 9, 2020

How to Weigh a Pulsar

Pulses from a neutron star (rear) are slowed as they pass near the foreground white dwarf star. The effect,...

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VLA Antennas with air traffic lights
Dec 29, 2019

Aircraft Lights Atop the VLA

In the early days of the Very Large Array, each 25-meter antenna had an aircraft warning light set atop...

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Prototype ALMA antennas
Dec 1, 2019

First Fringes of ALMA Prototypes

In March of 2007, two ALMA prototype antennas were linked together at the Very Large Array in New Mexico...

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Still from video on ALMA
Jul 7, 2019

#WAWUA – ALMA is a Timemachine!

With colorful artwork and clever animations, these short videos delve into topics that explain the fundamentals of radio astronomy,...

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Still from video on ALMA
Jun 2, 2019

#WAWUA – We are Stardust!

With colorful artwork and clever animations, these short videos delve into topics that explain the fundamentals of radio astronomy,...

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Blazar diagram
Apr 14, 2019

AGNs Seen at Different Angles

One type of active galactic nuclei (AGN) -- a supermassive black hole that is gobbling up gas and dust...

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VLBA image of center of galaxy 0402+379.
Mar 31, 2019

VLBA Reveals First-Ever Black Hole “Visual Binary”

VLBA image of the central region of the galaxy 0402+379, showing the two cores, labeled C1 and C2, identified...

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The VLA
Mar 3, 2019

The Backs of the VLA Dishes

The Very Large Array antennas dip in formation to observe a target in the southwest sky. Radio telescopes can...

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Karl Jansky and his map of the Milky Way
Feb 17, 2019

Karl Jansky with his Milky Way Map

Karl Guthe Jansky joined the staff of the Bell Telephone Laboratories in Holmdel, New Jersey in 1928. While hunting...

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Feb 10, 2019

A Dish as White as Snow

The paint on the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) is a special blend that reflects sunlight, gives off heat to...

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ALMA durring a snowstorm
Dec 16, 2018

Stormy Sunset Over ALMA

A break in the clouds during a snowstorm creates a dramatic scene at the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in...

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Scott Ransom
Nov 25, 2018

Scott Ransom: Part 10 Black Holes

Scott Ransom, an astronomer at NRAO, talks about black holes.

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Oct 21, 2018

VLBI Network of Telescopes Bring Astronomers Closer to Understanding Dark Matter

Gravitational lensing allows astronomers to observe incredibly distant radio sources that cannot be directly detected. By observing how the...

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85-foot Tatel Telescope
Aug 26, 2018

Gazing Upon Our First Telescope

The newly assembled 85-foot Howard E. Tatel telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia was the first radio telescope of...

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Milky Way Galaxy
Aug 12, 2018

Across the Milky Way (teal version)

A radio and infrared wave panorama of a section of the Milky Way in the constellations of Scutum and...

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7-meter ALMA antennas
Jul 29, 2018

A Quartet of 7-meter Antennas

Four 7-meter Japanese ALMA telescopes are being readied for final testing and acceptance by ALMA at the Operations Support...

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