Upcoming Events

Follow the Monarchs: A Journey to Explore the Cosmos at (Sub)milliarcsecond Scales with the ngVLA
          Nov 11 - 14, 2024 | Morelia, Mexico

Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems XXXIV
November 9 - 14, 2024 | Valletta, Malta

245th American Astronomical Society Meeting
Jan 12 - 16, 2024 | National Harbor, Maryland

2024 Jansky Lectures with Ken Kellermann

The NRAO will be hosting a series of public lectures for the 2024 Karl G. Jansky Lectureship, awarded to Dr. Kenneth Kellermann, Senior Scientist, Emeritus at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. The Jansky Lectureship is an honor established by the trustees of AUI to recognize and celebrate outstanding contributions to the advancement of radio astronomy.

Ken earned his S.B. in physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1959 and his Ph.D. in physics and astronomy at the California Institute of Technology under John Bolton in 1963, studying the radio spectra of galactic and extragalactic radio sources. He joined the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in 1965. He has served as NRAO's Acting Assistant Director for Green Bank Operations, as Chief Scientist, and as head of its New Initiatives Office.

Ken's studies of radio galaxies, quasars, and cosmology cover more than a half-century of research. His collaborations with scientists and radio telescope facilities around the world in the development of Very Long Baseline Interferometry resulted in the construction of NRAO's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) in 1993. The unprecedented angular resolution, surpassing that of optical telescopes, has led to many discoveries in both galactic and extragalactic science as well as a variety of terrestrial phenomena. The fundamental text Galactic and Extragalactic Radio Astronomy, edited by Verschuur and Kellermann, has been used for decades by many researchers and students in the field.

The public lectures will take place on the following dates:

• Charlottesville on Thursday, October 24, 2024. There will be a reception starting at 6PM at the University of Virginia Abbott Center Auditorium, Darden School of Business with the lecture starting at 7PM ET.
• Green Bank on Wednesday, November 6, 2024. The lecture will take place in the Science Center auditorium starting at 7PM ET followed by a light reception with the Green Bank staff.
• Socorro on Friday, November 22, 2024. The lecture will start at 7PM MST at the Macey Center followed by a reception.

Major ngVLA and ALMA Recommendations from the Kavli-IAU Workshop Report

The Kavli-IAU Workshop on Global Coordination has issued a report summarizing findings and recommendations for Probing the Universe from far-infrared to millimeter wavelengths: future facilities and their synergies. This workshop took place from March 26-28, 2024 in Pasadena, CA.

The goal of this Kavli-IAU workshop was to examine the needs and requirements of different facilities observing in the far-infrared to centimeter wavelengths from 2030 onwards. The workshop also considered the synergies and complementarities among astronomical facilities, and explored how to maximize the scientific insights from the data they will yield.

The report from a distinguished panel of astronomers contained major recommendations, including (1) the need for ALMA to develop an ALMA2040 vision and (2) for ngVLA to maintain its momentum, and schedule and further develop international partnerships.

New AI Institutes Launched by the U.S. NSF and Simons Foundation

Two new institutes funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Simons Foundation will build a new breed of astronomical tools by harnessing the uniquely powerful abilities of artificial intelligence to assist and accelerate humanity's understanding of the universe. Credit: Photo by Bettymaya Foott/NSF NRAO/AUI, composition by U.S. National Science Foundation.

The NRAO will be part of one of two new institutes funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and Simons Foundation. From the early telescopes made hundreds of years ago by Galileo to the sophisticated astronomical observatories of today, people have built increasingly innovative tools to probe and measure the cosmos. Soon, researchers at two new institutes funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Simons Foundation will build a new breed of astronomical tools by harnessing the uniquely powerful abilities of artificial intelligence to assist and accelerate humanity's understanding of the universe.

ngVLA project scientist Eric Murphy (NRAO) stated, "We are excited to be a key part of one of the first Astronomy AI institutes. This opportunity will allow us to collaborate with leading experts in the field to drive key areas in foundational AI research while simultaneously identifying how these advancements can increase the efficiency and reliability of our instruments - the most in demand radio telescopes in the world for astronomy - for our existing facilities, like our partnership in the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, and future facilities, like the next generation Very Large Array."

The new National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes for astronomical sciences are part of the NSF-led National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes program, which now includes 27 AI institutes across the U.S. The two new institutes will each receive $20 million over five years: $10 million from NSF and $10 million from the Simons Foundation.

"The massive amount of data that will be gathered in the coming years by the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory and other large-scale astronomical projects is simply too vast and rich to be fully explored with existing methods," says NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. "With reliable and trustworthy AI in their toolbox, everyone from students to senior researchers will have exciting new ways to gain valuable insights leading to amazing discoveries that might otherwise remain hidden in the data."

Launched in 2020, the NSF-led AI Institutes are part of a broad federal effort to advance a cohesive approach to AI-related opportunities and risks and support the goals outlined in the White House's 2023 "Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence." For more information about NSF's decades-long support for foundational AI research and the AI Institutes program, visit NSF's Artificial Intelligence webpage.

• Read the press release from the U.S. National Science Foundation.
• Read the press release from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

53rd Young European Radio Astronomers Conference

Samantha Scibelli and Cosima Eibensteiner (NRAO Jansky Fellows)

NRAO Jansky Postdoctoral Fellows particpated in the 53rd Young European Radio Astronomers Conference (YERAC) hosted by the National Astronomical Observatory (Observatorio Astronómico Nacional, OAN) and Yebes Observatory at the facilities of OAN in Madrid, Spain.

The YERAC, which has been held almost every year for the last 50 years, is a unique opportunity for PhD students and early-career researchers. For many students, YERAC is, probably, their first time attending an international conference. In fact, the participants have the chance to extend their knowledge about different scientific aspects of radio astronomy and techniques, from single dish to interferometric observations. This provides a broad and useful vision for the next generation of future radio astronomers.

Dr. Cosima Eibensteiner (left at the MeerKAT Array during the 2024 IAU Conference) discussed PHANGS-MeerKAT and MHONGOOSE HI observations of nearby spiral galaxies and Dr. Samantha Scibelli (right with the Qband receiver inside the Yebes 40m) talked about Complex Chemistry at the Earliest Stage of Low-mass Star Formation.

We encourage NRAO students and postdocs to attend future meetings, as the NRAO is a member of the EVN.

Call for Applications - 2025 Jansky Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Anna Kapinska (NRAO)

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is inviting applications for the 2025 Jansky Fellowship Program! The program, established in the 1980s, has been attracting exceptional researchers that moved on to eminent careers in radio astronomy and beyond. The Jansky Fellowship supports outstanding early career scientists to conduct independent research that is broadly related to the NRAO's mission. We welcome applicants who bring diverse and innovative dimensions to the Observatory and to the field of radio astronomy. Jansky Fellows spend most, if not all of their time on self-directed independent research within the NRAO scientific and research environment. Candidates with interests in radio astronomy science and techniques, instrumentation, computation, multi-wavelength collaborations, and theory are encouraged to apply. Jansky Fellows have also a unique opportunity to contribute to and learn from the development and delivery of the largest and most capable radio telescopes in the world, and become leaders in their fields.

The submission deadline for the 2025 Jansky Fellowship Program application is Wednesday, October 16, 2024 for the fellowship appointment starting nominally in September 2025. For details on the 2025 Jansky Fellowship Program and on how to apply see our application submission portal.

ALMA Program News

Al Wootten (NRAO/NAASC)

Image Credit - Pablo Carrillo (ALMA)

ALMA Observing Status

ALMA concludes normal Cycle 10 observations at the end of September. The 12-m Array is currently moving to configuration C-3, which provides a 1.4" beam at 100GHz on 500m baselines to finish out Cycle 10. ALMA has successfully completed more hours of successful scientific observations so far in Cycle 10 than in any previous cycle. On behalf of the JAO Operations team, Norikazu Mizuno, ALMA Deputy Director for Operations said: "This remarkable milestone is a testament to the dedication, collaboration, and contributions from all departments and regions across ALMA." ALMA begins Cycle 11 with the start of October. Atmospheric water vapor normally begins increasing as altiplanic Spring occurs in the southern hemisphere at the end of September and into October.

ALMA Cycle 11 Proposal Review Process

A detailed report on the outcome of the ALMA Cycle 11 Proposal Review Process is now available. The report details the proposal review process, proposal statistics and regional distributions, as well as the proposal distribution across science categories and receiver bands. A total of 1712 proposals were submitted, collectively requesting 31,608 hours on the 12-m Array, which is the highest amount of time ever requested in a single cycle. This resulted in an oversubscription rate of 7.4.

ALMA Cycle 11 Data Processing Workshops

The Cycle 11 ALMA Ambassadors are holding a series of ALMA data processing workshops. It's not too late to attend an event and learn about imaging ALMA data, analyzing images and cubes with CARTA, or the latest updates to CASA and the ALMA Pipeline! See the Community Events page or the table below for information on the remaining workshops.

ALMA Special Session at AAS 245, National Harbor, Maryland

A special session "New perspectives on protoplanetary disks in the era of ALMA-WSU and JWST" will present recent high-impact ALMA and JWST results in different subfields of protoplanetary disk studies, and introduce how future synergistic experiments enabled by the transformative increase in capabilities from ALMA-WSU will support the next revolution in the field. The session will include four invited talks by M. Van't Hoff (Purdue University), C. Espaillat (Boston University), K. Pontoppidan (JPL), K. Zhang (Wisconsin) and a short general presentation of the WSU.

ngVLA Project News

Eric Murphy (NRAO)

ngVLA NSF Conceptual Design Review

After a September 3-6 review in Washington, DC by an international panel, the ngVLA project successfully passed its Conceptual Design review. The project thanks numerous colleagues worldwide who contributed their time and talent to help propel the ngVLA past this important milestone. The ngVLA project will now be considered by the US National Science Foundation for entry to the next phase - Preliminary Design - to further advance the project's definition and execution plan. A press release is forthcoming.

Follow the Monarchs to Old Mexico

The conference on "Follow the Monarchs: A Journey to Explore the Cosmos at (Sub)milliarcsecond Scales with the ngVLA" will be held November 11-14 in person in Morelia, Mexico. The conference coincides with the Monarch butterflies completing their migration journey from Canada and the US to the historic Morelia area. A program of 67 talks has been announced. The deadline for cost-saving registration and poster abstract submission is October 1. To take these actions, see the conference website.

ngVLA Science - Direct Detection of Dark Matter via Precision Astrometry

Jeff Dror and Sarunas Verner (University of Florida)

Figure: If the Compton wavelength of dark matter exceeds a source's distance, it affects the source's apparent position.

What if dark matter interacts with us only through gravity? Long considered a grim scenario where its properties - such as mass and spin - would remain elusive, recent research has revealed that dark matter with a de Broglie wavelength comparable to the sizes of galaxies induces fluctuations in spacetime (Khmelnitsky and Rubakov 2014). These fluctuations, akin to gravitational waves, open up the possibility of directly studying dark matter gravitationally.

In recent work, we demonstrated that these dark matter-induced spacetime fluctuations leave detectable imprints on the apparent locations of astrophysical sources. The impact of dark matter on these sources is critically dependent on the distance to the source relative to the Compton wavelength of the dark matter. One of the most striking effects is on classical aberration, an angular deflection of all sources due to the observer's motion.

In the presence of dark matter, this classical aberration becomes distance-dependent, with nearby sources exhibiting slightly different aberration than distant ones (see Figure). However, these variations may be less than 1 microarcsecond in size, requiring highly precise astrometric measurements for detection. Precision positional data of hundreds of distant sources has already been obtained through existing VLBI datasets (Truebenbach and Darling 2017), while coarser measurements have been made for a larger number of sources by the Gaia Space Observatory (Cosmos ESA 2024).

Our study suggests that a reanalysis of existing data could be crucial for making the first direct detection of dark matter. Importantly, the prospects for such a discovery would improve dramatically with ngVLA measurements of source positions with microarcsecond-level precision. Such precision would enable the detection of dark matter across a vast range of Compton wavelengths, opening a new frontier for the direct detection of dark matter.

Since 2015 the acronym ngVLA has appeared in 1190+ publications indexed in the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System. This article continues a regular feature intended to showcase some of those publications. We are especially interested in showcasing work done by early-career researchers. The collection of showcase articles can be viewed online. Anyone wishing to volunteer to author a feature should contact Joan Wrobel.

Recent Science Media Releases

	NRAO Part of New AI Institutes Launched by U.S. National Science Foundation and Simons Foundation September 18, 2024
	United Nations Secretary-General Visits ALMA September 10, 2024
	Hallmark "Wiggle" of Gravitational Instability in Planet-Forming Disk September 4, 2024
	More NRAO Media...
	Contact the NRAO press office to share your new and exciting science results.

From the Archives

Ellen Bouton

About this month's photo: Forty years ago, in September 1984, NRAO's Tucson office moved from space in an industrial park on Forbes Boulevard on the west side of Tucson to the top floor of Steward Observatory's newly built addition on the University of Arizona campus. After 10 years in the industrial park, NRAO staff now were able to interact with Arizona's astronomy department, enjoy easy access to dining halls, University facilities, and other amenities in the area around campus - and had a shower for the many staff bicycle commuters. In this Polaroid photo, probably taken in 1983, Jeff Kingsley (left), Dale Webb (center), and another (unidentified) staff member, monitor the progress of the construction.

From the Archives is an ongoing series illustrating NRAO and U.S. radio astronomy history via images selected from our collections of individuals' and institutional papers. If readers have images they believe would be of interest to the Archives, please contact Ellen Bouton.