National Radio Astronomy Observatory to Outfit the VLBA with New Ultra Wideband Receivers

The U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) has begun a major upgrade to the NSF Very Long Baseline Array (NSF VLBA) with the development and installation of state-of-the-art ultra wideband receivers capable of operating across the frequency range of 8 to 40 gigahertz (GHz). This new technology, first prototyped by NRAO in collaboration with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and tested on the NSF VLBA’s Owens Valley station, promises to significantly expand the scientific capabilities of the NSF VLBA.

Astronomers Catch Unprecedented Features at Brink of Active Black Hole

International teams of astronomers monitoring a supermassive black hole in the heart of a distant galaxy have detected features never seen before using data from NASA missions and other facilities including the National Science Foundation (NSF) National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA).