National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Research ServicesVirginia, United States201-500 Employees

National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory strongly believes that a diverse staff is critical to our mission of enabling world-class science with cutting edge radio facilities for the scientific community, to train the next generation of scientists and engineers, and to foster a scientifically literate society.  

Headquartered in Charlottesville, Virginia, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory was founded in 1957 by the National Science Foundation and Associated Universities, Inc.   The Observatory operates, maintains, and further develops two state-of-the-art radio telescope arrays that are impacting nearly every field of astrophysics.  

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), located in northern Chile, is a joint international partnership between North America, Europe, East Asia, and the Republic of Chile.  Composed of 66 high-precision antennas on a 5000-meter elevation site in the Atacama Desert of Chile, it is the largest ground based global astronomy endeavor in history.  The ALMA Science Center is located at the NRAO headquarters in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The Jansky Very Large Array is located in central New Mexico and is composed of 25 radio telescopes.  The site sits at a 2124-meter elevation and routinely delivers dramatic science results from the Solar System to the most distant galaxies.  The Pete V. Domenici Science Operations Center is located in Socorro, New Mexico.

The technology research and development behind the NRAO telescopes is housed at the NRAO Central Development Laboratory in Charlottesville, Virginia, where they embrace a science-driven research and development program that supports the astronomy community’s highest priority science goals.

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