News

The Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON) and the Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC (JIVE) announce the availability of a limited number of grants for their 2018 Summer Research Programme. Registration opens 1 December 2017.

The EVN is keen to take further steps to contribute to the establishment of an EOSC, noting, however, that its main objective continues to be the development of VLBI techniques that facilitate new discoveries in astronomy.

For the first time, scientists have directly detected gravitational waves - ripples in space and time - in addition to light from the spectacular collision of two neutron stars. This marks the first time that a cosmic event has been viewed in both gravitational waves and light.

On Sunday 8 October 2017, ASTRON & JIVE opened their doors to several hundred visitors during the Weekend of Science.

Welcome to the CASA VLBI workshop. In a glass fronted meeting room individuals from around the world have gathered to test a new toolkit for processing data collected during VLBI experiments. JIVE has been developing the toolkit in CASA, with testing occurring in house - until now.

Observing proposals are invited for the European VLBI Network, a VLBI network of radio telescopes spread throughout Europe and beyond, operated by an international consortium of institutes. Deadline 1st October 2017.

Ghana and South Africa have announced the first successful detection of fringes during a VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) test experiment with the European VLBI Network (EVN). A 32 metre converted telecommunications antenna at Kutunse, Ghana, was used in the ‘first fringe' detection. The experiment is one of three positive detections, with the other two successes including methanol maser detection and pulsar observations.

After serving as the director of JIVE for a decade, Huib van Langevelde will continue his career at JIVE in a different role. The council of the JIV-ERIC accepted his aspiration to spend more time on science and development, and they are beginning the process of selecting a new director. After serving JIVE in various roles, Huib van Langevelde took on the responsibility of acting director in 2007 and then the position of director in 2008.

This year the astronomy community is commemorating the 50^th anniversary of the first successful VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) experiments.