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ALMA Data Reduction Training Day: November 30, 2021

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Following the 5th Netherlands ALMA Science Day, on Tuesday, November 30, 2021, we will host an ALMA Data Reduction Training Day that will follow a hybrid format: all presentations and hands-on activities can be followed online, but we also have physical workspaces available in Leiden for those who wish to make use of these.

The training will begin at 9 AM and continue into the afternoon with coffee breaks and an hour lunch break. In the first part, the Allegro team will be presenting a series of talks that cover the following topics: how to go from the archive to obtaining calibrated visibilities, calibration, imaging, self-calibration, and analysis tools. There will be a short Question & Answer session at the end of each talk (approximately five minutes), with a longer general Q&A session at the end of the talk series.

In the afternoon, we will host an interactive workshop during which we will take you through the following topics:

  • Inspection of data quality
  • Continuum subtraction
  • Basics of imaging
  • Self-calibration
  • Advanced imaging techniques
  • Analysis tools

The workshop will make use of CASA Guides that are readily available online, and we will provide you with the dataset we will be using on the day of the workshop.

Program* November 30, 2021
9:00-9:05 Zoom connection opens
9:05-9:15 Welcome
9:15-10:00 Aida Ahmadi ALMA data: From the archive to calibrated visibilities
10:00-10:30 Katharina Immer Calibration
10:30-10:45 Coffee break
10:45-11:30 Ashley Bemis Imaging
11:30-12:00 Andrés Pérez-Sánchez Self-calibration
12:00-13:00 Lunch break
13:00-13:20 Alex Hygate Analysis Tools
13:20-13:45 Alex Hygate Simulating ALMA observations
13:45-14:00 Discussion – Q&A
14:00-14:15 Coffee Break
14:15-17:00 Guided ALMA data reduction workshop (slides)

* Note that this is a rough schedule as we plan to dedicate plenty of time for questions after each session.

Registered participants: (Last update 24-11-2021)

Michiel Hogerheijde Leiden Observatory
Violette Impellizzeri Leiden Observatory
Aida Ahmadi Leiden Observatory
Alex Hygate Leiden Observatory
Andrés Pérez-Sánchez Leiden Observatory
Ashley Bemis Leiden Observatory
Katharina Immer Leiden Observatory
Marta Frias Castillo Leiden Observatory
Naadiyah Jagga Leiden Observatory
Violeta Gamez Rosas Leiden Observatory
Lucas Stapper Leiden Observatory
Lisa Wölfer Leiden Observatory
Christian Ginski Leiden Observatory
Agnieszka Kobak Nicolaus Copernicus University
Milou Temmink Leiden Observatory
Ko-Yun (Monica) Huang Leiden Observatory
Anna Bartha-Veres Leiden Observatory
Yuan Chen Leiden Observatory
Ian Roberts Leiden Observatory
Mariam Abdallah Leiden Observatory
Fangyou Gao Kapteyn astronomical institute
Jurrian Meijerhof Leiden Observatory
Hanneke Poorta API
Sicen Guo Leiden Observatory
Luna van Haastere Leiden Observatory
Prathap Rayalacheruvu National Institute of Science Education and Research
Joshua Butterworth Leiden Observatory
Pooneh Nazari Leiden Observatory
Theodorus Topkaras Leiden Observatory
Directions to Leiden Observatory

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. Note that these instructions specify the route to the Lorentz Center, which is in the building on the right in the photo below (Oort building). The event will be held in the joining taller building –  Huygens building. Leiden Observatory is located on the 4-5th floors of both buildings, and the Allegro offices are located on the 11th floor of the Huygens building.

Locations inside the building

Workspaces reserved for the ALMA Data Reduction Training Day on November 30, 2021 are located in room HL-111 on the 1st floor of the Huygens building. There is a reception at the entrance of the building where they can provide you with directions.

lorentzcenter

5th Netherlands ALMA Science Day: Nov 29, 2021

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Allegro announces the 5th Netherlands ALMA Science Day, that will take take place on Monday, November 29, 2021. Due to changes in COVID-19 regulations, we will now be hosting this event fully online.

At the Science Day, we will share the latest scientific results obtained with ALMA by the Netherlands astronomical community. Guest speakers include Alice Booth (Leiden University, on the Molecules with ALMA at Planet-forming Scales [MAPS] Large Program), Eva Schinnerer (MPIA Heidelberg, on Resolved molecular gas properties of nearby massive star-forming galaxies from the PHANGS Large Program), and Gergö Popping (ESO, with the latest news from ALMA). In addition, contributed talks cover a wide range of science topics, including protoplanetary disks, molecular clouds, and high-redshift galaxies. A few openings are still available for contributed talks, and we welcome contributions in all science areas. The meeting will also allow ample time to discuss user experiences and other ALMA related topics.

Following the Science Day, on Tuesday, November 30, 2021, we will also host an introductory ALMA Data Reduction Training Day that will follow a hybrid format: all presentations and hands-on activities can be followed online, but we also have physical workspaces available in Leiden for those who wish to make use of these. At this workshop, Allegro fellows will introduce CASA and ALMA data reduction, share tips & tricks, and offer extensive hands-on training in data imaging and analysis.

 

— Connection details will be sent to registered participants —

We look forward to seeing many of you at our – online – Science Day!

Program November 29, 2021
10:55-11:00 Zoom connection opens
11:00-11:05 Welcome (Violette Impellizzeri)
11:05-11:35 Alice Booth (Invited) Molecules with ALMA at Planet-forming Scales – an ALMA large program to understand the chemistry of planet formation
11:35-11:50 Alex Hygate Discovery of a massive, highly star-forming, morphologically complex ULIRG at z = 7.31
11:50-12:05 Ko-Yun (Monica) Huang The chemical footprint of AGN feedback in the outflowing circumnuclear disk of NGC1068
12:05-12:20 Lucas Stapper The mass and size of Herbig disks as seen by ALMA
12:20-13:00 Social Lunch
13:00-13:30 Eva Schinnerer (Invited) Resolved molecular gas properties of nearby massive star-forming galaxies
13:30-13:45 Michael Janssen The latest results from the Event Horizon Telescope: Zooming into the heart of Centaurus A
13:45-14:00 Lisa Wölfer Spiral structures in the gas disc of CQ Tau
14:00-14:15 Filippo Fraternali Fast rotating and not-so-turbulent discs in z~4 galaxies
14:15-14:30 Nikki Zabel The Virgo environment traced in CO: how do HI-identified environmental mechanisms affect the molecular gas in cluster galaxies?
14:30-14:50 Break
14:50-15:05 Christian Ginski From microns to mm – multi wavelength studies of circumstellar disks
15:05-15:20 Raffaella Morganti ALMA view of the molecular gas in radio galaxies
15:20-15:40 Violeta Gamez Rosas NGC 1068 MATISSE imaging and thermal map of the dust close to the AGN
15:40-16:00 Gergö Popping ALMA Status Update
16:00-16:20 Discussion
Closing remarks

 

Registered participants: (Last update 24-11-2021)

Michiel Hogerheijde Leiden Observatory
Violette Impellizzeri Leiden Observatory
Leen Decin KU Leuven
Rychard Bouwens Leiden Observatory
Aida Ahmadi Leiden Observatory
Alex Hygate Leiden Observatory
Andrés Pérez-Sánchez Leiden Observatory
Ashley Bemis Leiden Observatory
Katharina Immer Leiden Observatory
Alice Booth Leiden Observatory
Eva Schinnerer Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA)
Michael Janssen Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR)
Marta Frias Castillo Leiden Observatory
Naadiyah Jagga Leiden Observatory
Huib van Langevelde JIVE/Leiden Observatory
Felix Semler University of Groningen
Violeta Gamez Rosas Leiden Observatory
Lucas Stapper Leiden Observatory
Lisa Wölfer Leiden Observatory
Christian Ginski Leiden Observatory
Agnieszka Kobak Nicolaus Copernicus University
Milou Temmink Leiden Observatory
Jim Shih API, University of Amsterdam
Lingyu Wang SRON
Gergö Popping ESO
Margot Leemker Leiden Observatory
Raffaella Morganti ASTRON & Kapteyn Astronomical Institute (Groningen)
Filippo Fraternali Kapteyn Astronomical Institute (Groningen)
Nikki Zabel Kapteyn Astronomical Institute (Groningen)
Alessia Annie Rota Leiden Observatory
Osmar Manuel Guerra Alvarado Leiden Observatory
Ko-Yun (Monica) Huang Leiden Observatory
Anna Bartha-Veres Leiden Observatory
Yuan Chen Leiden Observatory
Per-Gunnar Valegard API, University of Amsterdam
Ian Roberts Leiden Observatory
Karla Mariana Rojas Martinez API, University of Amsterdam
Mariam Abdallah Leiden Observatory
Fangyou Gao Kapteyn Astronomical Institute (Groningen)
Jurrian Meijerhof Leiden Observatory
Hanneke Poorta API, University of Amsterdam
Sicen Guo Leiden Observatory
Luna van Haastere Leiden Observatory
Andres Felipe Ramos Padilla SRON/RUG
Prathap Rayalacheruvu National Institute of Science Education and Research
Joshua Butterworth Leiden Observatory
Pooneh Nazari Leiden Observatory
Theodorus Topkaras Leiden Observatory

ALminer: ALMA archive mining and visualization toolkit

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It is our pleasure to announce the release of ALminer: ALMA archive mining and visualization toolkit!

ALminer is a novel Python-based code that enables users to efficiently query, analyse, and visualize the ALMA Science Archive. Users can programmatically query the archive for positions, target names, or any other keywords in the archive metadata (e.g. proposal title, abstract, scientific category) in a simple way. ALminer’s plotting routines allow the query results to be visualised, and its analysis functions allow users to filter the results and check whether certain frequencies of interest are covered in the queried observations. The code also allows users to directly download ALMA data products in FITS format and/or the raw data that can be used for manual image processing. ALminer has been designed to make mining the ALMA archive as simple as possible, while being flexible to be customised according to the user’s scientific interests. The code is released with a detailed tutorial Jupyter notebook, introducing ALminer’s common functions as well as some of its more advanced options.

For more information about how to install and use ALminer, please visit the documentation or GitHub pages.

ALminer is a collaboration between Allegro, the ALMA Regional Centre in The Netherlands, and the University of Vienna (Austria) as part of the EMERGE ERC-StG project. With the public release of this new software, our goal is to provide the astronomical community with a new easy-to-use toolkit that facilitates the scientific exploitation of the rich ALMA science archive.

If you use ALminer as part of your research, please consider citing Ahmadi & Hacar 2021.

For suggestions and collaborations, please e-mail Aida Ahmadi.

ALminer example

Example of ALminer query for the science keywords “High-mass star formation” with an overview plot of queried observations.

ALMA Proposal Preparation Day 2021

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The ALMA Cycle 8 2021 Call for Proposals is now open with a submission deadline on April 21, 2021. 

The Allegro ARC Node would like to invite you to attend a proposal preparation workshop. The aim of this workshop is to assist you in making the most out of ALMA’s new capabilities, getting an overview of the new modes offered, and proposal preparation through the ALMA Observing Tool (OT). We will also offer guidance with writing double-anonymous proposals and in the new stages of proposal writing and reviewing (the “distributed proposal review process”) that will be in use from Cycle 8 2021.

The format of our workshop will be virtual, and it will consist of:

  1. a live online event with the Allegro team on March 29th with a few presentations and an extensive Q&A session
  2. online video tutorials that will be uploaded after the online event (watch last year’s video tutorials here)
  3. online drop-in sessions on Wednesdays 14-15 and Fridays 9-10
  4. individual 1-1 support that can be booked at any time (e-mail us)

Our online event will be used to address questions related to proposal submission and the distributed proposal review process that will be adopted from Cycle 8 2021 onwards. Since proposals will have to be written in a fully double-anonymous fashion this year, the Allegro team will provide advice on how this can be achieved, and explain how one can refer to unpublished data and previous ALMA projects without accidentally violating the double-anonymous guidelines.

You can register to attend the online event on March 29th using this registration form.

An overview of important dates and what’s offered in Cycle 8 2021 can be found in the Call for Proposals. As a reminder, the Cycle 8 2021 will include configurations from C-1 up to C-8, with a special focus on high frequency observing. New capabilities that will be offered include Solar observations in Band 5, a passive-phasing mode for VLBI, high-frequency observations (Bands 9 and 10) with the stand-alone 7-m array, mosaicking of continuum line polarisation observations (Bands 3 to 7), spectral scans with the 7-m Array and up to 75 hours of full polarisation observations of a single field with the 7-m Array. No long baseline observations are offered in Cycle 8 2021.

We look forward to seeing many of you at the ALMA Proposal Preparation Day on March 29th! Meanwhile, don’t hesitate to e-mail us if you have questions, concerns, or need support. We would be happy to set up a remote meeting with you. PIs who are considering a Large Program are especially encouraged to contact Allegro early so we can explore the many ways we can support your project and help optimize your program.

Program March 29, 2021
9:30 Welcome
9:35-9:50 Violette Impellizzeri ALMA Call for Proposals & Capabilities in Cycle 8 2021
9:50-10:10 Katharina Immer Distributed Peer Review
10:10-10:30 Aida Ahmadi Dual Anonymous Proposal Review
10:30-10:45 Break
10:45-11:20 Ashley Bemis & Andrés Pérez-Sánchez The ALMA Observing Tool
11:20-11:40 Alex Hygate Simulating ALMA Observations
11:40-12:00 Aida Ahmadi Archive Mining
12:00 Open Q&A Session
Registered participants: (Last update 25-03-2021)
Michiel Hogerheijde Leiden Observatory
Violette Impellizzeri Leiden Observatory
Alex Hygate Leiden Observatory
Andrés Pérez-Sánchez Leiden Observatory
Ashley Bemis Leiden Observatory
Aida Ahmadi Leiden Observatory
Katharina Immer Leiden Observatory
Pooneh Nazari Leiden Observatory
Marta Frias Castillo Leiden Observatory
Ian Roberts Leiden Observatory
Kirsty Butler Leiden Observatory
Leindert Boogaard Leiden Observatory & MPIA
Jakob van den Eijnden University of Oxford
Fernanda Roman de Oliveira Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Matthew Kenworthy Leiden Observatory
Danial Rangavar Langeroodi Leiden Observatory
Belen Alcalde ESO
Maximilian Beyer VU Amsterdam
Martijn van Gelder Leiden Observatory
Cristina Garcia Leiden Observatory
Antonello Calabro INAF OAR
Jozsef Varga Leiden Observatory
Audrey Coutens IRAP
Dominika Itrich ESO
Di Wen Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Daniele Aragao Ronso da Costa Lima Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Lucas Stapper Leiden Observatory
Olga Bayandina Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC
Lisa Wölfer MPE Garching/Leiden Observatory
Elielson Soares Pereira IAG-USP (Brazil)
Heitor Ernandes USP
Joshua Butterworth Leiden Observatory
Louise Lamblin Leiden Observatory
Sicen Guo Leiden Observatory
Ko-Yun (Monica) Huang Leiden Observatory
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ALMA Data Reduction Training Day: January 26, 2021

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Following the 4th Netherlands ALMA Science Day, we are organizing an ALMA Data Reduction Training Day on Tuesday, January 26, 2021, hosted online over Zoom. The training will begin at 10 AM and continue into the afternoon with a one-hour lunch break. Topics covered are: how to go from the archive to obtaining calibrated visibilities, calibration, imaging, self-calibration, and analysis tools. Throughout the remainder of that week, Allegro staff will be available to (remotely) work with you on exploring the capabilities of CASA on the Allegro computing system.

Program* January 26, 2021
10:00-10:05 Zoom connection opens
10:05-10:15 Welcome
10:15-11:00 Aida Ahmadi ALMA data: From the archive to calibrated visibilities
11:00-12:00 Katharina Immer Calibration
12:00-13:00 Lunch break
13:00-13:45 Ashley Bemis Imaging
13:45-14:15 Andrés Pérez-Sánchez Self-calibration
14:15-14:45 Alex Hygate Analysis Tools
14:45-15:00 Discussion – Q&A

* Note that this is a rough schedule as we plan to dedicate plenty of time for questions after each session.
 

Registered participants: (Last update 22-01-2021)

Michiel Hogerheijde Leiden Observatory
Violette Impellizzeri Leiden Observatory
Aida Ahmadi Leiden Observatory
Alex Hygate Leiden Observatory
Andrés Pérez-Sánchez Leiden Observatory
Ashley Bemis Leiden Observatory
Katharina Immer Leiden Observatory
Benoît Tabone Leiden Observatory
Yipeng Lyu Leiden Observatory
Pratik Dabhade Leiden Observatory
Simin Tong Leiden Observatory
Fernanda Roman de Oliveira University of Groningen
Ramlal Unnikrishnan Chalmers University of Technology
Dazhi Zhou Leiden Observatory
Jeroen Terwisscha van Scheltinga Leiden Observatory
Joris Kersten Radboud University
Joshua Joseph Butterworth Leiden Observatory
Alice S. Booth Leiden Observatory
Ko-Yun (Monica) Huang Leiden Observatory
Matus Rybak Leiden Observatory
Jozsef Varga Leiden Observatory
Pooneh Nazari Leiden Observatory
Helga Denes ASTRON
Martijn van Gelder Leiden Observatory
Louise Lamblin Leiden Observatory
Vanesa Ramírez Leiden Observatory
Teymoor Saifollahi Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Daniele Aragão Ronso da Costa Lima Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Bayron Portilla Revelo Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Jakob van den Eijnden University of Oxford
Jurjen de Jong Leiden Observatory
Olga Bayandina Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC
Tomoko Suzuki Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Kirsty May Butler Leiden Observatory
Juliëtte Hilhorst Leiden Observatory
Pavel E. Mancera Piña ASTRON & Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Theodoros Topkaras Leiden Observatory
Ivana van Leeuwen Leiden Observatory
Teresa Paneque-Carreno ESO & Leiden Observatory
Margot Leemker Leiden Observatory
Nanna Kerlauge ASTRON & Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Di Wen Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Lucas Stapper Leiden Observatory

4th Netherlands ALMA Science Day: January 25, 2021

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Allegro announces the 4th Netherlands ALMA Science Day, which will be held (online) on Monday, January 25, 2021. At this meeting, we will hear presentations of the latest scientific results obtained with ALMA by the Netherlands astronomical community. Special guest speakers include Rychard Bouwens (Leiden Observatory, on the REBELS Large Program), and Leen Decin (Leuven, on the Atomium Large Program – to be confirmed). We will also hear the latest updates on the status of ALMA and its return to science operations, and allow time to discuss user experiences and other ALMA related topics.

Following the Science Day, on Tuesday, January 26, 2021, introductory CASA training will be offered, again online (click here for more information). Throughout the remainder of that same week, Allegro staff will be available to (remotely) work with you on exploring the capabilities of CASA on the Allegro computing system.

Important dates:
– January 11, 2021: Deadline for registering to present a talk and registering to attend the CASA training.
– January 21, 2021: Deadline for registering to attend the Science Day talks.

Program January 25, 2021
12:30-12:35 Zoom connection opens
12:35-12:45 Welcome (Violette Impellizzeri)
12:45-13:15 Rychard Bouwens
(Invited Talk)		 Probing the Most Massive ISM Reservoirs in the Early Universe with the REBELS ALMA Large Program
13:15-13:30 Alice S. Booth An inherited complex organic reservoir in a warm planet-hosting disk? First detection of methanol in a Herbig Ae/Be disk
13:30-13:45 Matus Rybak Full of Orions? Dissecting the extreme star-formation in the early Universe with ALMA
13:45-14:00 Pooneh Nazari Complex organic molecules in low-mass protostars
14:00-14:20 Liz Humphreys Status of ALMA operations
14:20-14:35 Gergö Popping ALMA Cycle 8 2021
14:35-14:55 Discussion
14:55-15:05 Break
15:05-15:20 Huib Jan van Langevelde Status of The Event Horizon Telescope
15:20-15:35 Karina Caputi An ALMA galaxy signposting a MUSE galaxy group at z=4.3 behind El Gordo
15:35-15:50 Ardjan Sturm Tracing outer disk carbon depletion using [CI]
15:50-16:05 Raffaella Morganti Taking snapshots of the jet-ISM interplay with ALMA: the case of PKS 0023–26
16:05-16:20 Martijn van Gelder Modeling SO and SO2 in accretion shocks
16:20-16:30 Break
16:30-17:00 Leen Decin
(Invited Talk)		 Stellar and planetary companions shape the winds of evolved stars
17:00-17:15 Niels Ligterink Serpens SMM1-a: A primordial soup in space
17:15-17:30 Ko-Yun (Monica) Huang Characterizing the shock properties in NGC1068
17:30-17:45 Tomoko Suzuki Dust, gas, and metal content in star-forming galaxies at z~3.3
Closing remarks

 

Registered participants: (Last update 22-01-2021)

Michiel Hogerheijde Leiden Observatory
Violette Impellizzeri Leiden Observatory
Leen Decin KU Leuven
Rychard Bouwens Leiden Observatory
Aida Ahmadi Leiden Observatory
Alex Hygate Leiden Observatory
Andrés Pérez-Sánchez Leiden Observatory
Ashley Bemis Leiden Observatory
Katharina Immer Leiden Observatory
Elizabeth Humphreys ESO/JAO Chile
Gergö Popping European Southern Observatory
Huib Jan van Langevelde JIVE & Leiden Observatory
Benoît Tabone Leiden Observatory
Yipeng Lyu Leiden Observatory
Simon Gazagnes Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Giovanna Pugliese Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy – UvA
Pratik Dabhade Leiden Observatory
Felix Semler University of Groningen
Simin Tong Leiden Observatory
Fernanda Roman de Oliveira University of Groningen
Olga Bayandina Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC
Margot Leemker Leiden Observatory
Ramlal Unnikrishnan Chalmers University of Technology
Dazhi Zhou Leiden Observatory
Jeroen Terwisscha van Scheltinga Leiden Observatory
Vincent Icke Leiden Observatory
Joris Kersten Radboud University
Joshua Joseph Butterworth Leiden Observatory
Alice S. Booth Leiden Observatory
Ko-Yun (Monica) Huang Leiden Observatory
Niels Ligterink Space Research & Planetary Sciences department, University of Bern
Saskia Matheussen NWO
Matus Rybak Leiden Observatory
Jozsef Varga Leiden Observatory
Pooneh Nazari Leiden Observatory
Ardjan Sturm Leiden Observatory
Helga Denes ASTRON
Martijn van Gelder Leiden Observatory
Cristina Garcia Leiden Observatory
Leindert Boogaard Leiden Observatory
Louise Lamblin Leiden Observatory
Núria Casasayas Barris Leiden Observatory
Alvaro Hacar University of Vienna, Austria
Areli Castrejon Aviles Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Vanesa Ramírez Leiden Observatory
Teymoor Saifollahi Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Daniele Aragão Ronso da Costa Lima Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Bayron Portilla Revelo Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Jakob van den Eijnden University of Oxford
Jurjen de Jong Leiden Observatory
Sarah Leslie Leiden Observatory
Karina Caputi Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Tom Oosterloo ASTRON & Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Tomoko Suzuki Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Raffaella Morganti ASTRON & Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Lingyu Wang SRON
Kirsty May Butler Leiden Observatory
Juliëtte Hilhorst Leiden Observatory
Pavel E. Mancera Piña ASTRON & Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Theodoros Topkaras Leiden Observatory
Per-Gunnar Valegard Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy – UvA
Lucas Stapper Leiden Observatory
Ivana van Leeuwen Leiden Observatory
John McKean ASTRON & Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Nanna Kerlauge ASTRON & Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Marta Frias Castillo Leiden Observatory
Di Wen Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
Teresa Paneque-Carreno ESO & Leiden Observatory
Sander Schouws Leiden Observatory
Iris de Ruiter Anton Pannekoek Institute – UvA
Anna de Graaff Leiden Observatory
Jan Brand INAF-IRA, Italian node EU ARC
Ewine van Dishoeck Leiden Observatory
Marijn Franx Leiden Observatory
Martin Zwaan European Southern Observatory
Belen Alcalde Pampliega European Southern Observatory
Andres Felipe Ramos Padilla RUG / SRON
Serena Viti Leiden Observatory

I-TRAIN: ALMA Training Sessions

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The European ARC Network is offering a series of online topical training sessions focused on the analysis of ALMA and interferometric data in general. The sessions will cover a wide range of topics of interest to the ALMA user community with the aim to help users gain expertise in working with interferometric data. Each training session will be one hour long and will include a live demo and an interactive Q&A section.

The following is a list of training sessions currently being offered. We will update this page as more sessions are offered. Click on each topic for more information about how to participate.

  1. Imaging with the ALMA Pipeline (December 4, 2020 – 11:00 CET)
  2. ALMA Science Archive update and ARI-L (December 15, 2020 – 11:00 CET)
  3. UVMultiFit: a versatile library for fitting models directly to visibility data (January 15, 2021 – 11:00 CET)

 

New Allegro Program Manager: Violette Impellizzeri

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We are excited to announce that Violette Impellizzeri has joined Allegro as our program manager!

Violette received her PhD in 2008 at the Max Planck Institute for Radioastronomie in Bonn, on the topic of “molecular tori in the core of AGN”. After her PhD, she moved as a postdoc to NRAO, in Charlottesville, to work on the Megamaser Cosmology Project. It was during this time that the ALMA telescope began construction, and as NRAO was one of the ALMA partners, she soon became excited at the idea of being part of such an important project and furthering her interferometry interests. For this reason, in 2011 she moved to the Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) in Chile as a commissioning postdoc and science fellow; during commissioning she also worked on early VLBI testing, science verification, and high frequency observing techniques. In 2014, once operations began, she was hired as an operations astronomer taking on new tasks such as the Phase II Group (P2G) Lead, ‘friend of VLBI’ and Proposal Handling Team (PHT) lead. On October 1st, she joined the Allegro ARC Node in Leiden, taking on the role of Program Manager, and is very excited to be returning to Europe and connecting with the Allegro team and the ALMA scientific community in The Netherlands.

We look forward to working with Violette and wish her all the best.

European ALMA Regional Centre Community Assembly

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The European ALMA Regional Centre invites all European ALMA users to a short virtual community assembly on October 8 at 10:00 CEST. After a long period of suspended science observing, there is now a path towards getting back on sky and collecting science data with ALMA again. At this community meeting, we will update you on the timeline for recovery and can answer any questions you may have on your ALMA projects and support from the European ARC network.

Reserve the date: 8 October at 10:00 CEST. The meeting can be accessed at this link.

Don’t hesitate to e-mail Allegro in case of questions, comments, or concerns. Looking forward to seeing you then!

ALMA starts the process of recovering the telescope array

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Due to the global coronavirus pandemic, almost the whole ALMA site has been shut down for the past six months. With the improving pandemic situation in Chile, ALMA is now scheduled to begin the long process of recovering the telescope array on October 1st, 2020. The road to recovery of operations, and ultimately science observations – a milestone that will not take place this year – has been carefully planned and more details can be found here.

The current restart plan requires about 80 days to reach the antenna power-up milestone, assuming there are no major repairs needed, or changes in the schedule due to impacts of the pandemic. The time needed to recover sufficient antennas for science observations is highly uncertain. Nevertheless, the aim is to have antennas collecting data and verifying the observing systems after approximately 100 days – whether this is a handful, or many antennas, remains difficult to predict. This implies that January is the earliest there may be enough functional antennas and cooled receivers to attempt the first science observations.

Status updates will continue to be provided at least monthly on the Science Portal, as the recovery of operations progresses. Specific capabilities and potential science observing dates will be identified after the status of antennas and other critical systems is better understood.

As always, the ALMA Regional Centres continue to provide support to their respective communities. At Allegro, we continue to actively provide support to our users. Don’t hesitate to e-mail us in case of questions, comments, or concerns.