Very Long Baseline Interferometry for science and society 

Abstract:

Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) combines signals from telescopes separated by continental distances to achieve the highest angular resolution in astronomy, enabling direct imaging of phenomena ranging from Active Galactic Nuclei, including the first images of a black hole shadow, to star-forming regions and pulsars. Reaching this resolution requires aligning signals to nanosecond precision across baselines of thousands of kilometres. This same precision makes VLBI an indispensable tool in geodesy, the study of Earth’s dynamic shape, size, and gravitational field, underpinning applications from climate monitoring and natural disaster response to precision agriculture and navigation, with an estimated economic contribution of ~1.34 trillion USD by 2030.

In this talk, I highlight two areas in which I have been involved. First, I discuss advances in wide-field VLBI surveys. Traditionally, observations have targeted a single source per pointing, with large surveys requiring years to accumulate meaningful samples. Computational improvements now enable imaging of multiple sources within a single field and access to lower frequencies through the International LOFAR Telescope. I present scientific and technical results from these surveys, and describe new commensal survey programmes, including one on the ATNF Long Baseline Array, that will increase the number of sources studied at high resolution by two orders of magnitude.

Second, I discuss VLBI’s broader societal impact. The Development in Africa with Radio Astronomy (DARA) programme has trained over 400 students across the African continent in radio astronomy over the past decade. Building on this foundation, the GGOS-Africa project aims to develop geodetic infrastructure, governance, and human capacity across Africa. I present initial results from this project and outline the path forward.

Please note that the event timezone is AWST (UTC+8 hrs)

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