Description:

Title: "New Radio Astronomy Science Frontiers in the 2020s"

Speaker: Dr. Tony Beasley, NRAO

Abstract: 

Radio astronomy gathers unique information about the Universe using antennas, arrays and dipoles. The physical conditions and processes that generate radio emission are often quite different to those seen by other types of telescopes (e.g. optical, X-ray), and complete understanding of celestial objects often requires many forms of information.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory operates major radio astronomical facilities on behalf of the US and global science community. The Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA) in New Mexico, and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submm Array (ALMA) in the Chilean Andes, work individually and together with other ground and space-based telescopes to explore this important window to the Universe. Planning for a new array including 10 times more effective collecting area and 10 times higher spatial resolution than the current JVLA or ALMA is underway - a next-generation VLA (ngVLA). ngVLA will deliver world-leading sensitivity over the entire 1.2GHz to 115GHz spectrum.

In this talk a sample of key scientific discoveries from radio astronomy and NRAO instruments over the recent decade will be reviewed, and the role ngVLA could play in future solving some of the great outstanding problems in astronomy will be discussed. With ngVLA, new frontiers in modern astronomy can be reached, including direct imaging and chemical analysis of planet formation in the terrestrial-zone of nearby stars, and detailed imaging of molecular gas and galaxy formation out to high redshifts.

Host: Zadeh

Speaker Schedule

Keywords: Physics, Astronomy, Radio Astronomy