On March 13th, 2023, astronomers around the world will mark the 10th anniversary of the inauguration of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the world’s largest radio telescope. Over the past decade, the international ALMA collaboration— led by the U.S. National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ)— has revolutionized our understanding of the Universe and unveiled its secrets, from the formation of planets, stars, and galaxies to deciphering the chemistry of the cosmos, and even taking part in capturing the first images of black holes. 

The 2022 Jansky Lectureship, an honor recognizing outstanding contributions to radio astronomy, has been awarded to Professor Françoise Combes, Chair of Galaxies and Cosmology at the College of France and Astronomer at the Paris Observatory. She will deliver the lecture, “Symbiosis between black holes and galaxies,” in Charlottesville, VA, Green Bank, WV, and Socorro, NM, in February of 2023.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) and SpaceX have finalized a radio spectrum coordination agreement to limit interference from the company’s Starlink satellites to radio astronomy assets operating between 10.6 and 10.7 GHz. The agreement, detailed in a .statement released by NSF today, ensures that Starlink satellite network plans will meet international radio astronomy protection standards, and protect NSF-funded radio astronomy facilities, including the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and the Green Bank Observatory (GBO). The agreement will also positively impact collaborations and cooperation between SpaceX and NSF’s NOIRLab.

Five new scientific results from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the Very Large Array (VLA), and the Green…

The design for the ngVLA prototype antenna has passed a thorough review by a panel of external experts and the project now is cleared to proceed to manufacture the prototype.

Forty-eight days after suspending observations due to a cyberattack, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is observing the sky again. The computing staff has worked diligently to rebuild the affected JAO computer system servers and services. This is a crucial milestone in the recovery process. 

The U.S. National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) have signed a memorandum of understanding establishing their collaboration on the Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA), a new radio observatory currently in design and development at NRAO.

On October 29, 2022, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) suffered a cyberattack. We are working hard to resume observations before the end of the year.

The European Microwave Association (EuMA) has announced Marian Pospieszalski— a senior research engineer at the National Science Foundation’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)— as the recipient of its 2022 Pioneer Award. The EuMA Pioneer Award recognizes individuals responsible for noteworthy advances in the field of microwaves that have had a lasting and significant impact on the microwave community.

Following a generous grant from the National Science Foundation’s Spectrum Innovation Initiative (SII), NSF’s National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) will expand efforts to establish and support the co-existence of research and commercial entities across the radio spectrum.