Radio astronomers have observed galaxies billions of light years away. But how do they know just how far away those galaxies are?

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. 

Scientists studying a nearby protostar have detected the presence of water in its circumstellar disk. The new observations made with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) mark the first detection of water being inherited into a protoplanetary disk without significant changes to its composition. These results further suggest that the water in our Solar System formed billions of years before the Sun. The new observations are published today in Nature.

Jesse Alexander leads the Ham Radio Project, making the electromagnetic spectrum and radio astronomy accessible to BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ students.

NSF’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array welcomes the public for a free open house on Saturday, April 1, 2023. Tickets free, but required. Get your tickets now.

While studying galaxies in the early Universe with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), scientists discovered one of the most extreme galaxies ever recorded in the early Universe. What’s more, it was hiding a unique supermassive black hole (SMBH). The observations could unlock clues about the early formation of these violent giants and how to find them.