News Release – National Radio Astronomy Observatory

NSF Facilities Partner to Transform Data Processing for Next-Generation Radio Astronomy

The U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) has entered into a groundbreaking partnership with the NSF Leadership-Class Computing Facility (NSF LFFC), led by the Texas Advanced Computing Center, to pioneer a transformative data processing system for the next era of radio astronomy.

The partnership is in direct response to the astronomical data volumes anticipated from the upcoming Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) project, which is expected to produce up to 40 petabytes (PB) of data each month—orders of magnitude greater than any of the current NRAO telescopes. . This scale will place NRAO at the forefront of data-intensive scientific exploration not just in astronomy, but across the broader scientific community.

Brightest Ever Fast Radio Burst Allows Researchers To Identify Its Origin

An international team of astronomers have observed one of the brightest fast radio bursts (FRBs) ever detected—and pinpointed its…

Satellite Internet Meets Space Science: A Groundbreaking Solution for Spectrum Sharing

A groundbreaking solution has been developed to address the growing challenge of radio interference from satellite constellations on sensitive…

NSF VLBA Peers Into the “Eye of Sauron” to Solve Cosmic Neutrino Mystery

Using the U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy’s Very Long Baseline Array (NSF NRAO VLBA), an international team of astronomers has solved a decade-long puzzle about one of the brightest cosmic neutrino sources in the sky. Their findings, published today in Astronomy & Astrophysics Letters, reveal that the blazar PKS 1424+240 – dubbed the “Eye of Sauron” for its striking appearance – points its powerful jet almost directly at Earth, creating an extreme cosmic lighthouse effect.

Astronomers Catch Supermassive Black Hole in the Act of “Waking Up”

Astronomers using the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Very Long Baseline Array (NSF VLBA) and U.S. National Science Foundation’s Very Large Array (NSF VLA) have caught a supermassive black hole in the act of awakening from a long slumber, providing an unprecedented glimpse into the earliest stages of black hole activity.

Comet’s Water Holds Clues to Life on Earth

New research has uncovered compelling evidence that water from a comet is strikingly similar to that found in Earth’s…

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the U.S. National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.
	Founded in 1956, the NRAO provides state-of-the-art radio telescope facilities for use by the international scientific community. NRAO telescopes are open to all astronomers regardless of institutional or national affiliation. Observing time on NRAO telescopes is available on a competitive basis to qualified scientists after evaluation of research proposals on the basis of scientific merit, the capability of the instruments to do the work, and the availability of the telescope during the requested time. NRAO also provides both formal and informal programs in education and public outreach for teachers, students, the general public, and the media.
	The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense..."
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