In the 1997 movie Contact, Ellie Arroway is a young radio astronomer played by Jodie Foster. Ellie’s on a mission…
Baseline #13 – Sagittarius A*: Monster in the Milky Way
In the center of the Milky Way there is a black hole more massive than 4 million Suns. It’s known as Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A*, and it’s hidden behind the dust of our galactic center. So how can astronomers see it?
Put a Ring On It: How Gravity Gives Astronomers a Powerful Lens On the Universe
Gravity can change the path of light, and sometimes focuses the light of distant galaxies to create a gravitational lens or Einstein Ring. It is a common sight in modern deep field images, but the effect was first seen by the Very Large Array in 1987.
“You Have to Turn Off Your Brain and Trust What You Have Learned”
Tatiana López is an aerospace engineering student at the University of Concepción in Chile, and a certified PROVOCA Mentor, an AUI/NRAO program that promotes and supports young women pursuing STEM vocations in Chile. She is also the only Latin American woman that participated in the Asclepios II Mission, a Switzerland-based analog space program designed by and for students that required two years of training followed by 15 days in an underground Moon simulation at the former Gotthard Mountain military fortress located in the Swiss Alps.
The Baseline #12: Planetary Radar— Shining Light On Our Nearest Neighbors
Radio astronomers usually learn about the universe by passively observing the sky. But sometimes radio astronomy can be a bit more active. Join our host Summer Ash of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory as she talks about how astronomers can use radar to understand our astronomical neighbors in new and interesting ways.
Milky Way’s Black Hole Was “Birth Cry” of Radio Astronomy
The new image of the black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy made with the Event Horizon Telescope brings radio astronomy back to its celestial birthplace. The EHT image provides the closest look yet at the region from which radio waves from beyond the Earth were first detected in 1932 — by Karl Jansky, the father of radio astronomy.