Scientific Image – Page 7 – National Radio Astronomy Observatory

The Turbulent Life of Two Supermassive Black Holes Caught in a Galaxy Crash

NGC 6240 as seen with ALMA. The molecular gas is blue and the black holes are the red dots. This image provides the sharpest view yet of the molecular gas around the black holes in this merging galaxy.

The formation of protostars

This schematic shows a proposed pathway (top row) for the formation of protostars, based on four very young protostars (bottom row) observed by VLA (orange) and ALMA (blue). Step 1 represents the collapsing fragment of gas and dust. In step 2, an opaque region starts to form in the cloud. In step 3, a hydrostatic core starts to form due to an increase in pressure and temperature, surrounded by a disk-like structure and the beginning of an outflow. Step 4 depicts the formation of a class 0 protostar inside the opaque region, that may have a rotationally supported disk and more well-defined outflows. Step 5 is a typical class 0 protostar with outflows that have broken through the envelope (making it optically visible), an actively accreting, rotationally supported disk. In the bottom row, white contours are the protostar outflows as seen with ALMA.

Protostars in Orion Molecular Clouds

This image shows the Orion Molecular Clouds, the target of the VANDAM survey. Yellow dots are the locations of the observed protostars on a blue background image made by Herschel. Side panels show nine young protostars imaged by ALMA (blue) and the VLA (orange).

VANDAM survey

ALMA and the VLA observed more than 300 protostars and their young protoplanetary disks in Orion. This image shows a subset of stars, including a few binaries. The ALMA and VLA data complement each other: ALMA sees the outer disk structure (visualized in blue), and the VLA observes the inner disks and star cores (orange).

Centaurus A in Radio

An active galaxy at a distance of 10 million light years from Earth.

ALMA Peers into the Turbulent Atmosphere of Jupiter

Swirling clouds, big colorful belts of sinking gas, and giant storms. What can radio telescopes detect below the visible clouds of Jupiter? What is causing the many storms and eruptions that we see hovering around the planet? The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), observing in radio wavelengths, gives us the first view of Jupiter’s atmosphere down to fifty kilometers below the planet’s three different cloud layers, or decks.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the U.S. National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.
	Founded in 1956, the NRAO provides state-of-the-art radio telescope facilities for use by the international scientific community. NRAO telescopes are open to all astronomers regardless of institutional or national affiliation. Observing time on NRAO telescopes is available on a competitive basis to qualified scientists after evaluation of research proposals on the basis of scientific merit, the capability of the instruments to do the work, and the availability of the telescope during the requested time. NRAO also provides both formal and informal programs in education and public outreach for teachers, students, the general public, and the media.
	The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense..."
	AUI collaborates with the scientific community and research sponsors to plan, build, and operate cutting-edge facilities. We cultivate excellence, deliver value, enhance education, and engage the public.