First fringes for the ALMA Band-2 pre-production receivers

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Over the next few years, ALMA will open up the 2.6-4.5 mm wavelength range for scientific observations with its slew of newly developed Band 2 receivers. The first three Band-2 ‘pre-production’ receivers were recently installed at ALMA, developed and built by the NOVA submillimeter group at the University of Groningen together with GARD/Chalmers University, Sweden, INAF Italy, NAOJ Japan, the University of Chile, and ESO. ‘First fringes’ were obtained with this set of receivers, marking the moment when ALMA opens its eyes at these wavelengths. [more information]

Postdoctoral Support Position at Allegro

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Allegro, the Netherlands node of the European ALMA Regional Centre (ARC) at Leiden Observatory, invites applications for one or more postdoctoral support position(s).

The position offers the opportunity for research at one of the major centres of astronomy in the Netherlands as well as an in-depth involvement in the development and operations of ALMA. In particular, we are interested in candidates who (wish to) pursue research with ALMA or ALMA data as a prominent part of their scientific interest. Standard 50% time will be available for personal research and successful candidate(s) will have access to the full resources of Leiden Observatory. Besides independent research, the appointee is expected to spend time on the technical and user support of ALMA and we are looking for an enthusiastic and motivated applicants to work within the Allegro team on a variety of topics.

Qualifications: PhD in Astronomy, Physics, or related field, or proven track record of relevant experience. Research experience in fields directly related to submm astronomy. Experience with radio interferometric data and CASA software is highly desirable. Proficiency in Linux. The Leiden ARC node values diversity in its workforce.

The appointment will be for two years initially, renewable up to a maximum of four years based on need, funding, and performance. The position comes with a competitive salary and full benefits of an employee in the public sector.

Applications can be submitted electronically at: https://jobs.strw.leidenuniv.nl/2023/AllegroPD1/

Included Benefits:
Leiden University offers an attractive benefits package that includes additional vacation (8%) and end-of-year (8.3%) bonuses, sick leave, maternity and parental leaves, and retirement benefits. Candidates from outside the Netherlands may be eligible for a substantial tax break.

Application Deadline:
Friday, September 15, 2023

ALMA Proposal Preparation Day 2023

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The Allegro ALMA Regional Centre node is organising a proposal preparation workshop on Thursday the 20th of April 2023 in advance of the upcoming ALMA proposal deadline (expected to be the 10th of May 2023). We would like to invite you to attend online or in person at Leiden Observatory.

The workshop will have two sessions:

  1. Morning (10:00 – 12:00): Introduction to writing and preparing ALMA proposals.
  2. Afternoon (13:00 – 14:00): Summary of new features and changes in Cycle 10.

The morning session will introduce attendees to writing and preparing ALMA proposals. The topics covered will include the dual anonymous review process, distributed peer review, accessing the ALMA archive and using the ALMA Observing Tool (OT) to prepare your observing programme. No prior ALMA experience is necessary for attendance.

The afternoon session will cover the differences between Cycle 10 and Cycle 9. In particular, we will highlight the new capabilities of ALMA in this cycle, including the new ALMA Band 1 and the new availability of joint proposals with JWST, the VLA and the VLT. The afternoon session is designed for returning ALMA users and is also suitable for attendees of the morning session.

Both sessions will have time for your questions, and tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided for in person attendees. You can register to attend online or in person for one or both of the sessions before Thursday, April 13, 2023 using our registration form. For more information about the expected dates and what will be on offer in Cycle 10, please see the ALMA Cycle 10 Pre-announcement. 

In addition to this proposal preparation day, you can request a meeting with the Allegro staff (e-mail us) to discuss your proposal or come to our drop-in sessions (April 24, May 1, and May 8 at HL-1122 from 14:00-16:00).

Program April 20, 2023 (Tentative)
10:00-12:00 Introduction to Proposal Preparation (slides) (GOB/EM1.09) Allegro Team
12:00-13:00 Lunch
13:00-14:00 ALMA’s New Capabilities in Cycle 10 (slides) (GOB/EM1.09) Allegro Team
 
Directions to Leiden Observatory

The address of Leiden Observatory is Niels Bohrweg 2, 2333 CA Leiden. Note that this is not the old observatory in the center of Leiden. Instructions on how to get to Leiden Observatory, including transportation from Schiphol Airport or the central trains station, can be found here. Leiden Observatory is located on the 4-5th floors of the Oort building (seen on the right in the photo below), and the Huygens building (the taller building seen on the left in the photo below). Allegro offices are located on the 11th floor of the Huygens building.

The workshop will take place in room EM 1.09 in the New Gorlaeus building. We will have signs and there is also a reception at the entrance of the building where they can provide you with directions.

For those joining us online, connection details will be sent to you by email before the start of the event.

lorentzcenter

 

Useful resources:

Hands up for a community assembly!

Sixth European ALMA Regional Centre community assembly

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The Sixth European ALMA Regional Centre community assembly meeting will take place virtually on the 17th of April at 11:00 CEST and can be accessed via this Microsoft Teams link. During the meeting, staff from the European ALMA Regional Centre will present updates on ALMA Cycle 10, in particular the procedures for Joint Proposals with other facilities including the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope, the Space Telescope Science Institute’s James Webb Space Telescope, and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. In addition, you will hear about the new capabilities offered in Cycle 10, including ALMA Band 1, and the support that the European ARC network offers the community. 

Crowdfunding campaign to establish a planetarium in San Pedro de Atacama

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Former ALMA director, Thijs de Graauw, and the Fondacion “Planetarios Educativos para Chile” have launched a crowdfunding campaign to construct and operate a public planetarium in San Pedro de Atacama, ALMA’s host community. This provides the opportunity to include the people of San Pedro de Atacama in the celebrations of 10 years of ALMA science operations, and express appreciation for the Licanantai communities upon whose sacred lands the ALMA Observatory is situated. The planetarium will open the ALMA universe for this local community, and will provide a window to the world of science and technology for schools and colleges that will help inspire young people to learn and participate in the STEM fields.

For more information and to donate, visit https://gofund.me/7efdfcf4

ALMA Cycle 10 proposal preparation workshop

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The Allegro ALMA Regional Centre node is organising a proposal preparation workshop on the 20th of April 2023 in advance of the upcoming ALMA proposal deadline (expected to be the 10th of May 2023). The workshop will have two sessions: In the morning there will be an introduction to writing and preparing ALMA proposals for new users. In the afternoon there will be a summary of new features and changes in Cycle 10 for experienced users as well as the attendees of the morning session. You are welcome to attend online or in person at Leiden Observatory. For more information about the workshop, visit the workshop website. Registration deadline is April 13, 2023.

In addition to this proposal preparation day, you can request a meeting with the Allegro staff to discuss your proposal or come to our drop-in sessions (April 24, May 1, and May 8 at HL-1122 from 14:00-16:00). We especially encourage anybody who is considering submitting a Large Programme to contact us at Allegro early so that we can explore the many ways we can support your project and help optimise your program.

If you want to get a head start on thinking about writing an ALMA proposal, Allegro’s Program Manager Violette Impellizzeri gave a presentation last year, available to view as a YouTube video, about writing and reviewing ALMA proposals. It includes guidelines for writing dual anonymous proposals and useful tips and tricks.

More about Cycle 10:

It is expected that antenna configurations C-1 to C-8 will be available in Cycle 10. There will also be several new capabilities offered by ALMA in this cycle, including the new ALMA Band 1 and the new availability of joint proposals with JWST, the VLA and the VLT. For more information about the expected dates and what will be on offer in Cycle 10, please see the ALMA Cycle 10 Pre-announcement.

Science highlight: Tracing galaxy mass loss via OH absorption at high redshift

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Mass loss from high-redshift galaxies is crucial in quenching star formation and enriching the intergalactic medium. Only limited information is available on the gas mass loss of galaxies at z>6. Using ALMA observations of OH 119 μm doublet toward a small sample of high-redshift unobscured QSO host galaxies, Butler et al. (2023, ApJ 944, 134) trace the outflows blueshifted absorption. Estimating the mass loss rate, the authors conclude that the mass loss is likely driven by star formation alone, with only a small contribution from the AGN. Viewing geometry and coverage factor are important factors in the interpretation of the absorption lines and inference of the mass loss rates. Higher resolution follow-up observations with ALMA, and data on a larger sample, will further strengthen the presented results. This work included contributions from astronomers from Leiden, Delft, Heidelberg and Bologna.

Above Figure: ALMA continuum (left) and OH absorption (right) observations of one of the unobscured QSO host galaxies studied by Butler et al. (2023). Blueshifted OH 119 μm absorption traces star-formation driven mass-loss from this z=6 galaxy.

Meeting of ALMA Young Astronomers 2023

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March 10th marked the successful completion of the second Meeting of ALMA Young Astronomers, MAYA 2023. The goal of MAYA is to provide a platform where early career astronomers can present their recent ALMA work, and to facilitate new collaborations and projects through the interaction with other participants and staff working in the ARC nodes.

Work presented at MAYA showcased some of the most exciting research done by early-career astronomers who are interested in ALMA. This week-long virtual conference included participants from around the world who gave talks on topics ranging from protoplanetary disks to high redshift galaxies. The conference had a total of 192 registrants, with 69 abstracts submitted. There were 51 talks on the final MAYA 2023 program, and the majority of these talks have been recorded and will be available shortly on the YouTube channel of the European ALMA Regional Centre Network. The full program can be found on the MAYA 2023 webpage, along with an abstract booklet, and PDFs of the three invited talks (Astronomer on Duty, the ALMA Science Archive, and the Future of ALMA).