NOAO Home Page Image Archive
The last 5 images that have appeared on the NOAO Home Page.
January 06, 2012
T. Abbot & CTIO/NOAO/AURA/NSF
DECam Arrives!
Greg Derylo (Fermilab) confirms that the 72-CCD focal plane of the Dark Energy Camera suffered no mechanical trauma during its recent journey from Chicago to Tololo.
December 19, 2011
D. Talent, K. Don, P. Marenfeld & NOAO/AURA/NSF and the BRAVA Project
The Bar in the Center of the Milky Way
In a paper recently accepted for publication, Dr Andrea Kunder (CTIO) and colleagues confirm cylindrical rotation in the galactic bulge, confirming models that suggest the bulge consists of a single massive bar. The BRAVA fields are shown in this image montage. The center of the Milky Way is at coordinates L= 0, B=0. The regions observed are marked with colored circles. This montage shows the southern Milky Way all the way to the horizon, as seen from CTIO. The telescope in silhouette is the Blanco 4-meter, where the observation were made. NOAO Press Release 11-09
December 05, 2011
P. Marenfeld & NOAO/AURA/NSF
Ginormous Black Hole in NGC 3842 reported by Gemini Observatory
This figure shows the immense size of the black hole discovered in the galaxy NGC 3842. NGC 3842, shown in the background image, is the brightest galaxy in a rich cluster of galaxies. The black hole is at its center and is surrounded by stars (shown as an artist's concept in the central figure). The black hole is seven times larger than Pluto's orbit. Our solar system (inset) would be dwarfed by it. Nature Paper [PDF]
November 21, 2011
REU Student’s Work Helps to Detect Near Earth Asteroids
A program to characterize Near Earth Asteroids is being carried out at NOAO by Mark Trueblood. Last summer a student in the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program, Morgan Rehnberg, developed a computer program (PhAst), available via the web, to help with this effort. NOAO Press Release 11-07
October 04, 2011
Aden Meinel, 1922-2011
Astronomy and Optical Science lost a great pioneer and innovator when Dr. Aden Meinel passed away this week. Dr. Meinel led the development, and became the first Director, of the Kitt Peak National Observatory. He then went on to become Director of the Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona, where he also founded the Optical Sciences program.
Dr. Meinel’s vision for the National Observatory still resounds today as Kitt Peak remains a vibrant research facility for all US astronomers.
NOAO Press Release 11-05: Aden Meinel, First Director of Kitt Peak National Observatory, Passed Away
Nobel Prize in Physics
for Accelerating Universe
The Nobel Prize in physics for 2011 has been awarded for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe. Two competing teams were honored for their discovery. Both teams used the Victor M. Blanco 4 meter telescope and the world's most powerful imagers between 1994-1998 at the NOAO Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory in Chile for the central observations that led to the discovery of distant supernovae and the acceleration of the universe. The Supernova Cosmology Project was led by Dr. Saul Perlmutter and the High z Supernova team was headed by Dr. Brian Schmidt. NOAO is particularly proud of the role our technical and scientific staff played in enabling the observations, and of our NOAO staff astronomers at CTIO and in Tucson who were on the High z and SCP teams.
NOAO Press Release 11-04: NOAO Telescopes Played Major Role in Nobel-Prize Winning Projects
Link to all previous images [242].
