Latest NRAO News
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![Astronomers Catch Unprecedented Features at Brink of Active Black Hole](https://public.nrao.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/DwarfBH103024_sml-e1736735573362-468x300.jpg)
International teams of astronomers monitoring a supermassive black hole in the heart of a distant galaxy have detected features never seen before using data from NASA missions and other facilities including the National Science Foundation (NSF) National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA).
![A Stellar Farewell: Dr. James Jackson Retires as Director of NSF Green Bank Observatory](https://public.nrao.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Jackson_Jim-585x300.jpg)
Dr. James “Jim” Jackson is stepping down from his role as Director of the U.S. National Science Foundation Green…
![Helical Magnetic Fields: A Universal Mechanism for Jet Collimation?](https://public.nrao.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/yso_2010_1920x1080_0450-585x300.jpg)
New observations from the National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s (NSF NRAO) Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (NSF VLA) provide compelling evidence supporting a universal mechanism for the collimation of astrophysical jets, regardless of their origin. A new study, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, reveals the presence of a helical magnetic field within the HH 80-81 protostellar jet, a finding that mirrors similar structures observed in jets emanating from supermassive black holes.
![Astronomers Detect Earliest and Most Distant Blazar in the Universe](https://public.nrao.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Most-Distant-Blazar-585x300.jpg)
A groundbreaking discovery has revealed the presence of a blazar—a supermassive black hole with a jet pointed directly at Earth—at an extraordinary redshift of 7.0. The object, designated VLASS J041009.05−013919.88 (J0410−0139), is the most distant blazar ever identified, providing a rare glimpse into the epoch of reionization when the universe was less than 800 million years old. This discovery challenges existing models of black hole and galaxy formation in the early cosmos.
![ALMA and the Event Horizon Telescope: Moving Towards a Close-Up of a Black Hole and its Jets](https://public.nrao.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/black-hole-NGC-1052-Chalmers-J-Bournonville-Anne-Kathrin-Baczko-585x300.png)
After taking the first images of black holes, the ground-breaking Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is poised to reveal how…
![Black Hole Explorer Hopes to Reveal New Details of Supermassive Black Holes](https://public.nrao.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/BHEX_visual_notext-585x300.jpg)
A new agreement between the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) and the U.S. National Science Foundation…