The Space Telescope Science Institute, Center for Astrophysics – Harvard & Smithsonian, the Johns Hopkins University, European Southern Observatory, and Associated Universities, Inc. are organizing a Memorial Symposium to celebrate the life and work of our friend and colleague Riccardo Giacconi, whom we lost on 9 December 2018. The Symposium will cover the various phases of Riccardo’s career and achievements. It will be held in Washington, D.C. at the National Academy of Sciences (2101 Constitution Ave, N.W.) on 29-30 May 2019.

A Science Organizing Committee is being established to develop the program and invite speakers. Within a few weeks, we will provide a website with information on lodging, registration, and a preliminary list of invited speakers. The website will also accommodate requests for contributed presentations.

We request that you send a statement indicating your interest in attending at your earliest convenience, but no later than 28 February to: GiacconiSymposium@stsci.edu.

Your input will facilitate our planning, as there are limitations on the number of attendees that can be accommodated for the event.

ALMA Cycle 7 Pre-Announcement

The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) will start the next cycle of observations (Cycle 7) in October 2019. A Call for Proposals (CfP) with detailed information on Cycle 7 will be issued in March 2019, with a deadline for proposal submission in April 2019. This pre-announcement highlights aspects of the Cycle 7 proposal Call that are needed to plan proposals.

Astro 2020 White Paper Coordination 

The 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey (Astro2020) Call for White Papers has been published by the National Academies. To assist with coordination in the multi-wavelength community, the NRAO has created a website to compile and broadly disseminate white paper topics, ideas, and submissions, particularly those relevant to a next generation VLA.

ngVLA Science Book

The ngVLA Science Book is published and available online via “Open Access” on the ASP webpage. This volume highlights key areas of astrophysics that are ripe for breakthroughs and underscores the broad U.S. and international support for pursuing the ngVLA. The book summarizes the ngVLA Key Science Mission and demonstrates a firm handle on the technology requirements and cost. 

Recent Press Releases

View all NRAO Media Releases at the NRAO public website.