News

Astronomers Watch Unfolding Saga of Massive Star Formation - Dwingeloo, 2 April 2015, A pair of images of a young star, made 18 years apart, has revealed a dramatic difference that is providing astronomers with a unique, "real-time" look at how massive stars develop in the earliest stages of their formation.

- 12 December 2014 - A European Commission Decision adopted today will allow JIVE, the central facility of the European VLBI Network (EVN), to become an ERIC (short for European Research Infrastructure Consortium), making this international collaboration easier and more efficient.

DWINGELOO, The Netherlands (8 October 2014) - Highly-detailed radio-telescope images have pinpointed the locations where a stellar explosion called a nova emitted gamma rays, the most energetic form of electromagnetic waves. The discovery revealed a probable mechanism for the gamma-ray emissions, which mystified astronomers when first observed in 2012.

JIVE will host the 3rd International VLBI Technology Workshop in November 2014.

DWINGELOO, the Netherlands (22 August 2014) New research by a team of European-based astronomers is helping to solve the mystery of what caused a spectacular supernova in a galaxy 11 million light years away, seen earlier this year.

DWINGELOO, The Netherlands (25 June 2014) - Astronomers have discovered three closely orbiting supermassive black holes in a galaxy more than 4 billion light years away. This is the tightest trio of black holes known to date and is remarkable since most galaxies have just one at their centre (usually with a mass between 1 million to 10 billion times that of the Sun).

On 28 Februray 2014 Prof. Dr. H.J. van Langevelde, JIVE director, presented his lecture on galactic radio astonomy at the Leiden University. In the first part of his lecture he explains to the, mostly Dutch, audience his use of interstellar masers in the field of galactic radio astronomy. The second part of his lecture, in English, focussed on policy aspects.

Was Einstein right? The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded 14 Million Euros to a team of European astrophysicists to construct the first accurate image of a black hole. The team will test the predictions of current theories of gravity, including Einstein's theory of General Relativity. JIVE will collaborate in the implementation of this ‘Synergy Grant’, the largest and most competitive type of grant of the ERC.

The jets which are shot away into space by the supermassive black hole in the centre of a galaxy, clear gas away from the galaxy. The first clear evidence of this was obtained by a team led by Raffaella Morganti using the global VLBI array including the EVN. The results will be published in Science on the 6th of September.

Huib van Langevelde has been appointed professor in Galactic radio astronomy at Leiden University. As the director of the JIVE and as a recognized scientist, he plays an important role in the definition of new methods and facilities in the field of radio-astronomy.