The National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Observatory (GBO) and National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), and Raytheon Intelligence & Space conducted a test in November to prove that a new radio telescope system can capture high-resolution images in near-Earth space. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-01-successful-paves-planetary-radar.html…
Tag: national science foundation
China’s huge FAST telescope to open to international observers
FAST’s 500-meter (1,640-foot) dish makes it the world’s largest single-dish radio observatory. It’s expected to open to international observers in 2021. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/worlds-largest-radio-telescope-china-fast…
SpaceX’s 1st Starlink launch of 2021 is now set for Wednesday
SpaceX intends to launch tens of thousands of Starlink satellites, with lifespans of around 5 years, into low-Earth orbit. The goal is global internet access. Astronomers are concerned. Here’s how to watch Wednesday’s launch. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/spacexs-1st-starlink-launch-of-2021…
New sunspot cycle could be among strongest on record
A study of oppositely charged magnetic field bands, moving in the sun’s northern and southern hemispheres, suggests the coming sunspot cycle – Cycle 25 – will be a particularly strong one. This result contradicts an earlier expert forecast, suggesting a weak Cycle 25. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/sunspot-cycle-25-among-strongest-on-record-says-ncar…
A blazar in the early Universe
The supersharp radio ‘vision’ of the National Science Foundation’s Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) has revealed previously unseen details in a jet of material ejected at three-quarters the speed of light from the core of a galaxy some 12.8 billion light-years from Earth. The galaxy, dubbed PSO J0309+27, is a blazar, with its jet pointed toward Earth, and is the brightest…
Solar telescope releases first image of a sunspot
The world’s largest solar observatory, the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, just released its first image of a sunspot. Although the telescope is still in the final phases of completion, the image is an indication of how the telescope’s advanced optics and four-meter primary mirror will give scientists the best view of the Sun from Earth throughout…
Arecibo Observatory telescope in Puerto Rico collapses after 57 years
The Arecibo Observatory telescope in Puerto Rico has collapsed, just weeks after the US National Science Foundation revealed plans to decommission the 57-year-old structure Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2261528-arecibo-observatory-telescope-in-puerto-rico-collapses-after-57-years/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Arecibo telescope receiver platform crashes onto dish
The telescope has been inoperable since mid-November, when multiple engineering companies reported that safety in and around it could not be guaranteed. Now their fears have come to pass. No one was injured. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/arecibo-telescope-receiver-platform-crashes-onto-dish…
National Solar Observatory predicts a large sunspot for Thanksgiving
On November 18 scientists from the US National Science Foundation’s National Solar Observatory predicted the arrival of a large sunspot just in time for Thanksgiving. Using a special technique called helioseismology, the team has been ‘listening’ to changing sound waves from the Sun’s interior which beckon the arrival of a large sunspot. Recent changes in these sound waves pointed to the…
NSF plans to decommission Arecibo Observatory’s 305m telescope due to safety concerns
Following a review of engineering assessments that found damage to the Arecibo Observatory cannot be stabilized without risk to construction workers and staff at the facility, the U.S. National Science Foundation will begin plans to decommission the 305-meter telescope, which for 57 years has served as a world-class resource for radio astronomy, planetary, solar system and geospace research. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-11-nsf-decommission-arecibo-observatory-305m.html…