Astronomers using ALMA, with the aid of a gravitational lens, have detected the most-distant galactic “wind” of molecules ever observed, seen when the universe was only one billion years old. By tracing the outflow of hydroxyl (OH) molecules – which herald the presence of star-forming gas in galaxies – the researchers show how some galaxies in the early universe quenched an ongoing wildfire of starbirth.
The super-sharp radio “vision” of a continent-wide collection of NSF radio telescopes answered an outstanding question about the aftermath of the merger of two neutron stars.
Band 10, ALMA’s highest frequency vision, has given scientists a new view of jets of warm water vapor streaming away from a newly forming star and uncovered an astonishing assortment of molecules.
The National Science Foundation has provided funding to repair damage to the Very Long Baseline Array station on St. Croix caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017.
Astronomers have used the VLA to detect a possible planetary-mass object with a surprisingly powerful magnetic field some 20 light-years from Earth. It can help scientists better understand magnetic processes on stars and planets.
Astronomers have made the first definitive detection of a radioactive molecule in interstellar space: a form, or isotopologue of aluminum monofluoride. The new data reveal that this radioactive isotopologue was created by the collision of two stars, a tremendously rare cosmic event that was witnessed on Earth as a “new star,” or nova, in the year 1670.
