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Observatory staff lead new sustainability intiatives

The Green Bank Observatory employees established a sustainability committee in late 2020 to develop new initiatives for local residents to improve their environment and their lives.

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“Don’t give up, it will happen.” Virtual Workshop Celebrates the 20th Anniversary of the Green Bank Telescope

Just over twenty years ago, in the summer of the year 2000, the National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Telescope (GBT) was dedicated for service. Taller than the Statue of Liberty, with a dish that can hold two football fields, the GBT remains the largest fully steerable radio telescope in the world. To celebrate the creation of such a colossal instrument, and the scientific research made possible, the Observatory will be holding a special virtual workshop April 21^st to 22^nd, GBT@20: Twenty Years of Innovation and Discovery.

*Construction of the unprecedented design of the Green Bank Telescope took ten years. NSF/NRAO*

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Earth Is Safe From Asteroid Apophis for 100-Plus Years

Green Bank Telescope Teams Up With NASA’s JPL Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex to Track Asteroid

The near-Earth object was thought to pose a slight risk of impacting Earth in 2068, but now radar observations have ruled that out.

This image is taken from an animation showing the distance between the Apophis asteroid and Earth at the time of the asteroid’s closest approach. The blue dots are the many man-made satellites that orbit our planet, and the pink represents the International Space Station. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Spring & Summer Outdoor Programs are Now Open

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Scientists uncover warehouse-full of complex molecules never before seen in space

Radio observations of a cold, dense cloud of molecular gas reveal more than a dozen unexpected molecules

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules overlaid on the Taurus Molecular Cloud, a large blue-white cloud made of gas and dust with large and small stars of varying luminosities interspersed throughout. Aromatic molecule structures shown in order from left to right: 1-cyanonaphthalene, 1-cyano-cyclopentadiene, HC11N, 2-cyanonaphthalene, Vinylcyanoacetylene, 2-cyano-cyclopentadiene, benzonitrile, E-cyanovinylacetylene, HC4NC, propargylcyanide.

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RCBI’s Apprenticeship Works assists Observatory in developing talent pipeline

RCBI apprentice, and now Green Bank Observatory employee, Priscilla Grimes, is shown welding in the machine shop. Image credit: Full Kilt Pursuits

The National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Observatory has teamed with the Robert C. Byrd Institute (RCBI) at Marshall University to develop the skilled workforce it needs to maintain operations of its numerous radio telescopes and other instruments, observing the universe to unlock the mysteries of outer space.

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Science 2020-2030

Observatory staff lead new sustainability intiatives

“Don’t give up, it will happen.” Virtual Workshop Celebrates the 20th Anniversary of the Green Bank Telescope

Earth Is Safe From Asteroid Apophis for 100-Plus Years

Green Bank Telescope Teams Up With NASA’s JPL Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex to Track Asteroid

Spring & Summer Outdoor Programs are Now Open

Scientists uncover warehouse-full of complex molecules never before seen in space

RCBI’s Apprenticeship Works assists Observatory in developing talent pipeline