Image of the Week – National Radio Astronomy Observatory

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.

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....

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....

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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....

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,...

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...

Feb 13, 2021

Students Use the 40-foot

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

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...

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...

Jan 3, 2021

Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov

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

Dec 26, 2020

A Wobbling Jet

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

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,...

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...

Nov 21, 2020

Hercules A

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

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...

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...

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...

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.

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...

Sep 6, 2020

Cannonball Pulsar

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

Aug 30, 2020

Arp 299

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

Aug 22, 2020

Campbell Wade

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

Aug 15, 2020

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...

Aug 1, 2020

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,...

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...

Jul 18, 2020

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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....

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.

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.

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 -...

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...

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.

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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,...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Nov 25, 2018

Scott Ransom: Part 10 Black Holes

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

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...

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...

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...

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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