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Radio emission from neutral hydrogen atoms in the direction of the Orion Nebula, the most nearby regions of high-mass star formation. The red colors show the 21-cm emission from hydrogen, resolved for the first time at this level of detail by observations from the Neutral Atomic Hydrogen in the Solar Neighborhood (NeAtHood) project, led by Juan Diego Soler from the University of Vienna. The cyan colors show the emission from warm interstellar dust in near-infrared light.

NSF VLA Maps a Hidden Hydrogen Shell Around the Orion Nebula

July 9, 2026 at 12:00 pm | News Release

A team of astronomers led by Juan D. Soler of the University of Vienna used the NSF VLA, operated by the U.S. National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatories (NSF NRAO), to obtain high-resolution observations of the emission from neutral hydrogen atoms (HI) at 21 centimeters wavelength

Artist's conception illustrating the aftermath of an intermediate-mass black hole tearing apart a passing star, resulting in an accretion disk and narrow relativistic jet (top left). The dotted line indicates our line of sight from Earth. The jet's off-axis afterglow only became visible once the expanding radio emission (bottom right) had grown wide enough to sweep into our line of sight, causing that emission to brighten dramatically years after the initial event.

Hidden Jet from a “Missing-Link” Black Hole Lights Up the Radio Sky

July 7, 2026 at 12:00 pm | News Release

Astronomers using the U.S. National Science Foundation Very Large Array (NSF VLA) have detected an extraordinary burst of radio light from a rare cosmic event in which an intermediate-mass black hole tears apart a star, revealing what appears to be the off-axis afterglow of a powerful jet.

The Milky Way Galaxy pours into an ALMA antenna. The astro-modified camera used to take this photo lets in the hydrogen alpha light that is normally filtered out. This modification makes the camera more sensitive to the red end of the electromagnetic spectrum, thus giving a pink tint to the sky. The green lights are used to show antenna activity.

Young Stars Shape the Fate of Galaxies

June 17, 2026 at 1:15 pm | News Release

Astronomers have new insight into how young stars shape the evolution of galaxies, highlighting the powerful role of stellar…

NSF VLA and ALMA Reveal Hidden “Ring Factories” of Giant Star Clusters in Nearby Galaxies

June 17, 2026 at 9:15 am | News Release

Astronomers have used U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) radio telescopes in Chile and New Mexico to peer through cosmic smoke and haze, building one of the clearest pictures yet of how giant clusters of young stars are born in the hearts of nearby galaxies.

artist's impression of radar waves from the NASA Goldstone Solar System Radar pinging one of Jupiter’s moons, Europa. The radar waves penetrate Europa’s icy surface before bouncing back to be collected by the NSF Green Bank Telescope on Earth.

Radar Echoes From Europa Reveal Secrets Beneath the Ice

June 16, 2026 at 5:15 pm | News Release

A team of scientists has used NASA’s Goldstone Solar System Radar and the U.S. National Science Foundation Green Bank…

Saving the Quiet Sky: Scientists and Telecom Team Up to Protect NSF VLA

June 16, 2026 at 2:18 pm | News Release

A recent upgrade to a commercial cell phone tower near the U.S. National Science Foundation Very Large Array (NSF…

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