Daily Image

02-07-2025
PreviousNext
Click here or on the picture for a full size image.

An Earth-sized radio observatory just got better: MeerKAT joins forces with the EVN

Submitter: B. Marcote (on behalf of JIVE)
Description: MeerKAT, South Africa’s premier radio telescope, has successfully completed its first full Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observation with the European VLBI Network (EVN) — the world’s most sensitive VLBI system. This milestone marks a major advance in global radio astronomy, significantly boosting the resolution and sensitivity of observations. By integrating MeerKAT into EVN operations, researchers captured unprecedented detail of a plasma jet from a distant supermassive black hole. The collaboration demonstrates MeerKAT’s powerful role in enhancing VLBI networks and sets the stage for its future contributions to the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO). Coordinated by SARAO and JIVE, this achievement highlights the strength of international scientific partnerships.

For more read the <a href=" https://jive.eu/news/earth-sized-radio-observatory-just-got-better-south-africas-meerkat-telescope-joins-forces">press release from JIVE</a> and <a href=" https://www.sarao.ac.za/news/pr_evn-meerkat/">from SARAO</a>.
Copyright: Illustration: Benito Marcote, JIVE. Image credits: MeerKAT image ©SARAO; EVN map image ©Paul Boven, JIVE (satellite image: Blue Marble Next Generation, courtesy of NASA Visible Earth).
 
  Follow us on Twitter
Please feel free to submit an image using the Submit page.