@thenrao.bsky.social
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the U.S. National Science Foundation. #RadioAstronomy 📡 VLA, ALMA, VLBA, GBT, ngVLA 🔗 public.nrao.edu
ngVLA photo
The ngVLA prototype is progressing nicely and should be fully online for testing soon! Come see it at the Very Large Array Open House event on Saturday, April 18th. @thenrao.bsky.social
public.nrao.edu/event/very-l...
That hydrogen cyanide will get ya!
06.03.2026 22:07 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0Again: Do not try to drink comet water.
06.03.2026 21:11 — 👍 3 🔁 2 💬 2 📌 0
ALMA Detects Extremely Abundant Alcohol in Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS
New research reveals that 3I/ATLAS is packed with an unusually large amount of the organic molecule methanol – more than almost all known comets in our own solar system.
#Astronomy #RadioAstronomy #3iatlas #ALMA
➡️ Want to experience some extras you can't see at a normal visit? ⬅️
Join us at the VLA Spring Open House (free!):
🗓️ Saturday, April 18
⏰ 9 AM - 4 PM
🎟️ Advance tickets (free!) required: nraoepo.ticketapp.org/portal/produ...
#Astronomy #RadioAstronomy #NewMexico #VeryLargeArray
The Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico is open to visitors 7 days a week from 9 AM – 4 PM. Come check out our telescopes on a self-guided walking tour, and don't forget to stop by the Visitor Center & Gift Shop! #VisitVLA
Admission: https://public.nrao.edu/visit/very-large-array/
Congrats to Karl Jansky Postdoctoral Fellow alum, Dr. Eric Wilcots, on his new appointment!
www.wisconsin.edu/news/archive...
Last month, NSF NRAO was proud to sponsor the prestigious NM Governor’s STEM Challenge, for the fifth year in a row!
The event brought together hundreds of high school students from across the state to showcase their STEM projects.
📸 NSF/AUI/NSF NRAO/C. Jaramillo Feldman
27 active telescopes + 1 spare! 📡
Learn about the telescopes: public.nrao.edu/telescopes/v...
Visit the VLA: visitvla.com
NRAO astronomer Loreto Barcos-Muñoz is part of the team whose research just make the new cover of Science magazine!
Paper here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
This image was made by NRAO scientist William Cotton with SARAO's MeerKAT telescope.
📸 Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF, S. Dagnello & W. Cotton; SARAO; DES
As they flow back towards the central galaxy, the jets are then deflected by its relatively high gas pressure into the shorter, horizontal arms of the boomerang. ↔️
27.02.2026 20:38 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0Each jet extends 2.5 million light years into space ↗️ (about the distance between the Milky Way and Andromeda!) before being ‘turned back’ by the pressure of tenuous intergalactic gas. ↩️
27.02.2026 20:38 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
Astronomical image of double boomerang galaxy PKS 2014-55. The image shows jets emanating from both sides of the black hole, each shaped like a boomerang and indicated in blue.
Radio #ImageoftheWeek
Meet 'Double Boomerang' Galaxy PKS 2014-55, located 800 million light years from Earth.
Two powerful jets of radio waves (🔵blue) originate from a massive black hole at the center of the galaxy.
📸 Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF, S. Dagnello & W. Cotton; SARAO; DES
#RadioAstronomy
#Astronomy community, this month's issue of the NRAO Newsletter is now available! Read here: https://science.nrao.edu/enews/19.2/
Learn about upcoming conferences, VLASS completing observations, ALMA Cycle 13 preparation, science spotlights, and more.
Nope! AAS Members + grad/undergrad students get discounted registration but others can still attend! @aas.org
27.02.2026 15:04 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 2 📌 0
Promotional graphic for the VLA Star Party on April 18 from 8-10 PM. Features a background and several additional photos of the telescopes at night and starry sky at the Very Large Array site.
BONUS:
Want to keep the party going? Return in the evening for the VLA's second-ever Star Party, 8-10 PM. Our dark skies are perfect for stargazing! 🌌 NRAO staff will have several optical telescopes set up + you may also bring your own.
Tickets (free): nraoepo.ticketapp.org/portal/produ...
While the Very Large Array is open daily for visitors, the Open House includes special extras: guided tours, talks, fun crafts, and T-rex-cellent food trucks.
Come meet the scientists behind groundbreaking discoveries and learn roar about the mysteries of our Universe! 📡🦖
Promotional graphic for the Very Large Array's Spring Open House on April 18. The background is a photo of the radio telescopes with a starry night sky. Features a dinosaur - a raptor - in the foreground with a speech bubble, due to the event also falling on Raptor Awareness Day. The Open House is from 9 AM to 4 PM and admission is free. Logos of NSF, AUI, and NRAO are included.
Ready for a dino-mite day at the Very Large Array? 📡 Join us at the VLA's FREE Spring Open House (which also happens to fall on Raptor Awareness Day! 🔭🦖)
🗓️ Saturday, April 18
⏰ 9 AM - 4 PM
📍Very Large Array - Magdalena, NM
Tickets (free) required: https://nraoepo.ticketapp.org/portal/product/36
Will we see you at #AAS248 this summer?
26.02.2026 14:42 — 👍 4 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 1
NEW: ALMA Creates Largest-Ever Image of the Milky Way’s Core
Astronomers using ALMA have produced the largest and most detailed image ever made of the Milky Way’s Central Molecular Zone.
#Astronomy #RadioAstronomy #MilkyWay #ALMA
🌟 Giant stars, 🤏 Tiny dust grains?
Astronomers using ALMA + NASA's JWST have discovered that some of the most massive stars in our galaxy are emitting unbelievably tiny grains of carbon dust—dust that one day could form future stars and planets.
#Astronomy #RadioAstronomy #ALMA
It’ll be here before we know it! 📡✨
23.02.2026 15:46 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
NRAO Public Information Officer Corrina Jaramillo Feldman joined the TJ Trout podcast to discuss the upcoming Next Generation Learning Center (ngLC) in New Mexico.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/very-large-array-vla/id1485013293?i=1000748451934
Astrophotography image of the ALMA sign at the observatory, with the Milky Way visible in the night sky above it.
Save the Date! 🗓️
The international conference ALMA at 15 Years: Science, Synergies, and the Road Ahead will be held Feb. 22-26, 2027 in Taiwan.
Further details coming in March.
📸 Credit: NSF/AUI/NSF NRAO/J.Hellerman
#astronomy #radioastronomy #alma
National Radio Astronomy Observatory plans to build 15K sq. ft. learning center. The project will be an expansion of its Very Large Array site west of Socorro.
via Albuquerque Business First
https://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/news/2026/02/04/nsf-nrao-to-expand-in-new-mexico.html
Astrophotography image of several Very Large Array telescope dishes in a line, silhouetted against a starry green and orange sky. A faint meteor can be seen over the dishes.
The Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico is open to visitors 7 days a week from 9 AM – 4 PM. Come check out our telescopes on an outdoor self-guided walking tour! (guided tours offered on weekends)
🔗 VisitVLA.com
📸 Credit: NSF/AUI/NSF NRAO/ Bettymaya Foott
#VisitVLA
Happy Valentine’s Day from the NSF NRAO! 💘💌 Share these cosmic cards with your solar-mate!
13.02.2026 19:46 — 👍 11 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 1
VLITE Marks 11 Years of Capturing the Dynamic Radio Sky
A collaboration between the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and the NRAO celebrates over a decade of commensal observing with the NSF Very Large Array. @usnrl.bsky.social
#Astronomy #RadioAstronomy
We’re excited to see our collaborators at the U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory spotlight recent progress from CosmicAI in a new press release following @aas.org
Read it here public.nrao.edu/news/nationa... @thenrao.bsky.social @simonsfoundation.org