News

The third edition of the Next Generation Space VLBI workshop (ngSVLBI-2022), co-organised by JIVE and ASTRON in Dwingeloo (The Netherlands) will be held on 17-19 October 2022. Registration is now open and the deadline for abstract submission is 15 July 2022.

The European VLBI Network (EVN) Biennial 2019-2020 Report is now available.

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.