Inside a spectrometer, a beam of white light (typical incandescent light bulb, sunlight, etc.) is broken into its actual wavelengths, what we call colors. Radio waves, if we could see them like this, would glow way off the chart to the left. Infrared light would be glowing next to the red, between radio and white visible light.
Precise Location, Distance Provide Breakthrough in Study of Fast Radio Bursts
In January 2017, for the first time, astronomers pinpointed the location in the sky of a Fast Radio Burst (FRB), allowing them to determine the distance and home galaxy of one of these mysterious pulses of radio waves. The new information rules out several suggested explanations for the source of FRBs.
Pronghorn Antelope Wander at the VLA
Aside from the engineers, astronomers, and visitors frequenting the Very Large Array in New Mexico, pronghorn antelope is a common sight to see at the VLA.
Tony Beasley – Director of NRAO
Anthony J. Beasley is the Director of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, taking over from Fred K. Lo.
After receiving his Doctorate in Astrophysics from the University of Sydney, Beasley joined NRAO as a Postdoctoral Fellow in 1991. He was appointed Deputy Assistant Director in 1997 and then Assistant Director from 1998 to 2000. He left NRAO to become Project Manager for the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA). In 2004, he returned to NRAO as an Assistant Director, this time as Project Manager for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile. In 2008, Beasley became the Chief Operating Officer and Project Manager of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). He was appointed NRAO Director in February, 2012.
Drilling Bolt Holes on the 140 Foot Telescope
The equatorial ring of the 140-foot (43-meter) telescope is a section of a 42-foot diameter circle. Its bronze gear was assembled from 28 separate segments that had to be accurately attached to the 3-million pound yoke. In this photo, engineers guide the massive drill into the equatorial ring of the 140-foot telescope in order to create the bolt holes.
The second 85-foot telescope of Green Bank Observatory
Previously, owned by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), Green Bank Observatory’s second 85-foot telescope (85-2) was, like its predecessor, the Howard E. Tatel Telescope, was built from a kit by the Blaw-Knox Corporation. Completed in February 1964, the 85-2 paired with the Tatel to form the NRAO’s first array, the Green Bank Interferometer (GBI). The GBI was changeable, because the 85-2 telescope sat on its own set of 64 wheels, and tractors could haul it up and down this stretch of road leading from the Tatel. In fact, the D7 Bulldozer in the foreground right was used as a pulling truck. Changing the distance between the 85-footers changed the resolution of the array’s combined view: farther equals higher resolution. An early computer combined the data from the two telescopes, and the cable tray for the signals runs along the far left of this photo. Today, there are three 85-foot dish antenna’s that for the GBI.