Planning Begins For Next Leap Forward in Research Capability
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI) are launching a new initiative to design a next-generation radio telescope with scientific capabilities far beyond those provided by any existing or currently proposed observatory. Building on the success of one of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) flagship observatories, the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), NRAO and AUI are beginning a two-year project to explore the science opportunities, design concepts, and technologies needed to construct a new class of radio telescope. This proposed array, consisting of more than 200 antennas, would extend across the desert southwest of the United States and into northern Mexico. Currently dubbed the next-generation Very Large Array, or ngVLA for short, the new research facility will be designed to provide the next leap forward in our understanding of planets, galaxies, black holes, and fundamental physics.
