A highly-detailed VLA image indicates that the jets of material propelled outward by young stars much more massive than the Sun may be very different from those ejected by less-massive young stars.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory has selected a contractor to develop a production-ready design and build a prototype antenna for the Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA). The ngVLA is proposed as an array of 263 dish antennas spread across North America to form a cutting-edge scientific tool for the coming decades.

Three projects from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) are featured in the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded 2021 STEM for All Video Showcase running from May 11 to May 18, 2021, showcasing the Observatory’s commitment to equity, social justice, and creative solutions to engagement during COVID-19.

Astronomical images are often filled with beautiful and subtle colors. While some images are fairly accurate to the colors…

New, high-resolution VLA images of a giant molecular cloud where new stars are being born show changes since a set of observations made more than two decades ago. Tracking changes in this region over time can reveal new details about the process of star formation and the interactions of outflows from young stars.

Astronomers used ALMA to study three young, high-mass stars and found, not the orderly, stable process of accreting new material seen in low-mass stars, but instead a “chaotic mess.” They conclude that their observations support a proposed “disordered infall” model for massive young stars that was supported by earlier computer simulations.