Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have observed a large dark spot in Neptune’s atmosphere, with an unexpected smaller bright spot adjacent to it. This is the first time a dark spot on the planet has ever been observed with a telescope on Earth. Read more in the ESO press release here. Image: [...]
Using multiple telescopes around the world, including European Southern Observatory (ESO) facilities, researchers have uncovered a living star that is likely to become a magnetar. This finding marks the discovery of a new type of astronomical object — massive magnetic helium stars — and sheds light on the origin of magnetars. This research was presented [...]
At the KoWi (The EU Liaison Office of the German Research Organisations) general meeting on 10 August 2023, Prof. Dr. Anton Zensus/Director of MPIfR, Scientific Coordinator of the running Opticon RadioNet Pilot project and Coordinator of the former RadioNet project was elected to the KoWi Advisory Board, with immediate effect.
A study of rare megastorms on Saturn using data from the National Science Foundation’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array has revealed disruptions in the distribution of ammonia gas in the planet’s deep atmosphere. The findings raise questions about just how different gas giants can be from each other, and challenge scientists’ understanding of how [...]
An international team of astronomers and engineers at the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have made the first measurements using new receivers installed on multiple ALMA antennas. This so-called “Band 2” opens a new window into cosmic origins, allowing measurements that reveal how distant stars and galaxies form, all the way down to the origins [...]
The call is open for observing proposals on IRAM telescopes, both the NOEMA interferometer and the 30-meter telescope, for the winter semester 2023/2024. Access/funding offered through the ORP (Opticon RadioNet Pilot) project. Submission deadline: 14 September 2023, 17:00 CEST (UT + 2 hours)
The RadioNet newsletter 07/2023 has ust been issued. Read here.
The hybrid community workshop will take place on 24-27 October 2023 at FORTH in Heralkion/Greece and it aims to to discuss the scientific potential and challenges of a future European wide-field radio interferometer: Recent advances and emerging themes in radio astronomy and transient astrophysics The science priorities for ARGOS: pulsar timing, PTAs, FRBs, cosmology, transients, [...]
The Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) project, developed by the US community under the lead of the of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), has recently been identified as one of the top-priority new ground-based observatories in the recent US decadal report. As such, it is expected to be a key facility for the [...]
On 13 July 2023, the Commission unveiled a comprehensive set of measures targeted at strengthening the European Research Area (ERA) and making it more resilient, appealing, and competitive. These will contribute to a priority action of the ERA Policy Agenda 2022-2024, namely to promote attractive and sustainable research careers. The set of measures includes: A proposal [...]