The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, an immense international telescope project under construction in northern Chile, reached a major milestone on April 30, when two ALMA antennas were linked together as an integrated system to observe an astronomical object for the first time.

Astronomers celebrated today the formal acceptance of the first North American antenna by the Joint ALMA Observatory. ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, is a gathering armada of short-wavelength radio telescopes whose combined power will enable astronomers to probe with unprecedented sharpness phenomena and regions that are beyond the reach of visible-light telescopes.

High in the Atacama region of northern Chile one of the world’s most advanced telescopes has just passed a…

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory has announced a formal agreement enabling Taiwanese astronomers to participate in the North American component of the international ALMA partnership, alongside American and Canadian astronomers. Taiwan’s efforts will be led by the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics.

A new research center combining the tools of chemistry and astronomy will use the unique laboratory of interstellar space to free the study of basic chemistry from the restrictive bonds of Earth.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory has announced the appointment of Dr. Carol Jean Lonsdale as the Observatory’s new Assistant Director for the North American ALMA Science Center. As NAASC head, Lonsdale will lead the team that will enable North American astronomers to exploit the capabilities of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, a powerful new international astronomical facility under construction in the high-altitude Atacama Desert of northeastern Chile.

The Expanded Very Large Array, part of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, took a giant step toward completion on August 7 with successful testing of advanced digital hardware designed to combine signals from its upgraded radio-telescope antennas to produce high resolution images of celestial objects.

New Mexico Tech and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory will rename the observatory’s research center on the New Mexico Tech campus to honor retiring U.S. Senator Pete V. Domenici in a ceremony on May 30. The building that serves as the scientific, technical, and administrative center for the Very Large Array and Very Long Baseline Array radio telescopes will be named the Pete V. Domenici Science Operations Center.

Associated Universities, Inc, and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory have awarded the 2008 Karl G Jansky Lectureship to Dr Arthur M Wolfe of the University of California, San Diego.

An international project to make the world’s most productive ground-based telescope 10 times more capable has reached its halfway mark and is on schedule to provide astronomers with an extremely powerful new tool for exploring the Universe.