NRAO: National Radio Astronomy Observatory
July 2008 eNews Volume 1, Issue 2
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Two Thumbs Up for Einstein, Again!Two Thumbs Up for Einstein, Again! In forty years of radio pulsar astrophysics, binary pulsar research has built up an impressive pedigree of observational tests of gravitational theories, starring Einstein's general relativity upfront as the one theory yet to be defeated. Read more...

ALMA Construction ALMA Construction The ALMA Operations Support Facility Technical Building (OSF TB) has recently achieved Provisional Acceptance, and members of the ALMA teams working at the site will soon move into their new quarters. Nine ALMA antennas are now on-site in Chile: four antennas from Mitsubishi Electric Co. (Melco) and five antennas from VertexRSI. Read more...

Observing with the VLA-EVLA Transition Array Observing with the VLA-EVLA Transition Array In the June 2008 eNews we reported that in almost all cases spectral line data at 12.5 MHz bandwidth show a noise level too high by a factor of at least 2. We are still not entirely sure when this problem started to occur, but know it was some time after December 2006. Read more...

Prototype WIDAR Correlator Arrives Prototype WIDAR Correlator Arrives The first set of boards for the prototype WIDAR correlator arrived at the VLA site on Tuesday, June 24, a week ahead of schedule. The WIDAR correlator is the backend for the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA), and will cross-correlate the data from the individual antennas over up to 8 GHz of bandwidth in each polarization, divided into 128 independent sub-bands, at a spectral (channel) resolution ranging from 1 MHz to less than 0.1 Hz, with full pulsar binning and gating capabilities. Read more...

Student Observing Support Awards Student Observing Support Awards The Student Observing Support (SOS) Committee met in April 2008 to discuss the twelve proposals that were submitted during the last trimester. The committee, composed of five faculty members from U.S. universities, discussed the science case and student support application for each proposal and selected the following four proposals to receive funding. Read more...

The 2008 Synthesis Imaging Workshop The 2008 Synthesis Imaging Workshop The Eleventh Synthesis Imaging Workshop was held from June 10-17, 2008, in Socorro, NM. Most of the workshop was held at Workman Center on the campus of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NMIMT). The data tutorials were partially held at the NRAO Pete V. Domenici Science Operations Center in Socorro. There were four and a half days of lectures and one day of data reduction tutorials. Read more...

NRAO Summer Student Program NRAO Summer Student Program The 2008 summer student class has reported to their assigned NRAO sites. This year’s class consists of 24 students: 16 undergraduate students supported by the National Science Foundation "Research Experience for Undergraduates" (REU) program; 7 graduating seniors or graduate students supported by the NRAO Graduate or Undergraduate Summer Student program; and 1 high-school senior. Read more...

AUI/NRAO Radio Astronomy Image Contest AUI/NRAO Radio Astronomy Image Contest The NRAO invites and encourages submissions of astronomical images to the 4th annual AUI/NRAO Radio Astronomy Image Contest. This contest is designed to promote research conducted by scientists using NRAO telescopes and increase the number of visually compelling, high-quality radio astronomy images available for education and public outreach (EPO). Read more...

Career Opportunities Career Opportunities

  • ALMA Antenna Group Manager
  • ALMA Electronics Group Manager
  • ALMA Test Scientists
  • CASA Group Supervisor

Read more...

ALMA and the Universidad Técnica Fedrico Santa Maria ALMA and the Universidad Técnica Fedrico Santa Maria If one examines the statistics of local personnel hired by AUI/NRAO for the ALMA project in Chile, one is quickly struck by the fact that nearly a quarter of the engineers and fully half of all ALMA technicians had their professional degrees conferred by the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa Maria (UTFSM) in Valparaiso, Chile. Read more...

NRAO Receives Bracewell Radio Astronomy Papers NRAO Receives Bracewell Radio Astronomy Papers We are pleased to announce that the family of Ronald N. Bracewell (1921-2007) is donating Bracewell's radio astronomy papers to the NRAO Archives. The extensive collection, to be received over the next six to eight months, will include correspondence, technical reports, publications and manuscripts, photographs and moving images, and subject files. Read more...

Hein Hvatum, 1923 - 2008 Hein Hvatum, 1923 - 2008 It is with great sadness that I write of the passing of Hein Hvatum on Thursday, 22 May. Hein was one of the first NRAO staff members and was with the Observatory from 1962 until he retired. During his long and extraordinarily productive career at the NRAO, Hein Hvatum guided all of the technical activities at the NRAO, including telescope design, construction and maintenance, electronics, and computing. Read more...

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The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

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