News

Astronomers have unveiled the first image of the supermassive black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy. This result provides overwhelming evidence that the object is indeed a black hole and yields valuable clues about the workings of such giants, which are thought to reside at the centre of most galaxies. The image was produced by a global research team called the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration - including participation in the Netherlands of astronomers and technicians from University of Amsterdam, Radboud University, Leiden University, University of Groningen, JIVE ERIC and ASTRON - using observations from a worldwide network of radio telescopes. The image has been unveiled by JIVE Chief Scientist and EHT Project Director Huib Jan van Langevelde at the European Southern Observatory Headquarters in Garching (Germany), one of the press conferences organised by the EHT Collaboration around the world.

The May 2022 issue of the EVN/JIVE Newsletter is now available and includes relevant updates of the European VLBI Network (EVN).

On 11 May 2022, JIVE organises the first online EVN Users' Training Event with the aim to support first-time users of the network. EVN Support Scientists will guide participants through the different steps to allow them to prepare and submit an observing proposal as well as the scheduling of observations. Participation on the webinar is free for everyone but registration is mandatory.

Observing proposals are invited for the European VLBI Network (EVN). The deadline for proposal submission is 1 June 2022 at 16:00 UTC. See the Call for Proposals text here for full information about the call and how to submit proposals.

Statement of the EVN Directors on the events unfolding in Ukraine.

The 9th European Radio Interferometry School (ERIS 2022) will be hosted by JIVE and ASTRON in Dwingeloo (the Netherlands) on 19 - 23 September 2022. The school is sponsored by the H2020 OPTICON-RadioNet Pilot (ORP) Project. Registration for the School is currently open and the deadline for registration is 15 May 2022.

Astronomers have been surprised by the closest source of mysterious flashes in the sky called fast radio bursts. Precision measurements with radio telescopes reveal that the bursts are made among old stars, and in a way that no one was expecting. The source of the flashes, in nearby spiral galaxy M 81, is the closest of its kind to Earth. The research including the participation of JIVE researchers has been published today in two papers in Nature and Nature Astronomy.

The Yebes Observatory (Spain) - managed by JIVE/EVN Partner Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN) - Ministerio de Transportes, Movilidad y Agenda Urbana (MITMA) - completed the design, implementation and installation of a new broadband receiver for its 40-m diameter radio telescope. The receiver is sensitive in the 4.5 to 9 GHz frequency range, and replaces two older, frequency-limited receivers in C-band (5 and 6 GHz) and X-band (8 GHz), allowing simultaneous observation in these two bands and in additional, previously unavailable frequencies.

The 15th European VLBI Network (EVN) Symposium, “Providing the Sharpest View of the Universe", and the EVN Users Meeting will be hosted by University College Cork (Ireland) on 11-15 July 2022 as in-person event, with also the option of online participation for those who do not feel able to come to Cork. Registration for the Symposium is currently open and the deadline for abstract submission is 30 April 2022.

An international team of astronomers led by JIVE postdoc has discovered that even a weak jet stream from a low-active black hole can be a kind of leaf blower to clean parts of a galaxy. The observed black hole removes about 75% of the cold gas in the central regions of the galaxy in a few million years. This probably stops the formation of stars. The researchers published their findings on Thursday 10 February 2022 in the journal Nature Astronomy.