BIWEEKLY CALENDAR OF THE ALMA PROJECT at NRAO 28 August 2006 - 11 September 2006 ******************************** THIS FORTNIGHT**************************** Jean Turner spoke on the morning of 16 August at the IAU General Assembly, in the session on facilities of the next decade, to a standing room only audience. On 24 August there was a special meeting "The ALMA Era for Astrophysics Begins" held from 9:00 until 12:30 in Dressing Room 225, which also unfolded before a standing room only group. There was lively discussion of ALMA's capabilities in the scientific discussions, at the ALMA Booth, and in the corridors of the meeting. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Last Calendar announced the publication of "Huellas en el Desierto" detailing archaeological research in Region II of Chile near the ALMA site. A copy of this book has been placed in the Charlottesville library. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- We are pleased to announce Mauricio Pilleux is relocating to the US for a period of three years to lead a special project to implement supply chain management for ALMA NA. He will continue to be the Chilean Business Manager and will be supported in Chile by the staff there. Mauricio will also support the ALMA Operations activities in Charlottesville. Mauricio will be assigned to Administration and matrixed to ALMA NA Construction, ALMA Operations (NAASC), and ALMA Chile. Please join us in welcoming Mauricio to Charlottesville. George Clark, Associate Director for Administration Adrian Russell, ALMA Project Manager ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The final program for 'Science with ALMA: A new Era for Astrophysics' November 13-17 in Madrid, will be available from the SOC on 2006 Sept 7. The final date for paying the registration fee (now 300 euros) has therefore been delayed to friday September 15th. Please see: http://www.oan.es/alma2006/calendar.shtml http://www.oan.es/alma2006/registration_fee.shtml The LOC reminds us that some of the hotels where rooms have been blocked for booking by the participants need to be contacted before September 1st. These hotels may change the rates after that date. http://www.oan.es/alma2006/hotels.shtml ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Past issues of this Calendar may be viewed at http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~awootten/mmaimcal/ALMACalendars.html See also the JAO ALMA Calendar overview at: http://www.alma.cl/alma_project *************************************************************************** General Happenings Sky: Jupiter slowly heads for the Sun during these late summer evenings. Uranus lies at opposition. Santiago: Ryohei Kawabe is in post as current JAO interim Project Scientist. An option on the Bicentenario building adjacent to ESO will be purchased as possible location of the Santiago Central Office. AOS (Array Ops Site, 16570ft altitude): Periods with precipitable water vapor (PWV) more than 1mm occurred early in the period, but for the last few days PWV<1mm at night, according to APEX. OSF (Ops Support Facility, 9600ft altitude): The Kick-Off Meeting for OSF Construction was held at the OSF site on 2006 Aug 17. The contractor, VVMO, has started its camp construction and site mobilization. The contract for the Assembly Integration and Verification temporary building near the ALMA Camp was awarded to the company TechnoFast. Bids are expected on Sep 01 for the contractorÕs Camp extension and Sep 08 for the ALMA Camp extension. The ALMA Camp is currently fully occupied. Construction of the underground utilities to the VERTEX, MELCO and ALCATEL Site Erection Facilities is finished. Currently there are approximately 98 persons working at the site of which approximately 88 uses the ALMA and ContractorÕs lodging facilities. NAASC: ALMA Postdoctoral Fellow Rob Reid arrived on 14 August. Some photos of Vertex antenna fabrication may be found at www.cv.nrao.edu/~jzivick NTC: The Band 7 CDR was held August 16-17 at IRAM. The report is being written. CDR was conditionally passed. Band 6 cartridge: Cartridges 1-5 are now completely assembled. Correlator: There have been no chip failures of any sort in 4.2 months. Discussion and documentation of multi-resolution modes continued (inventory of all possibilities and restrictions). AOC: First 10 pre-production photomixers for Photonic LO shipped from RAL (30 more to come). Holography software delivered within CIPT. Holography receivers to be shipped from NTC soon. Observing Tool test in progress. ATF: The AEC antenna is not functioning. Encoder, UPS, ACU problem (power supply failed). Cannot be moved to zenith without ACU, a flaw in design to be changed for production antennas. *************************************************************************** DAILY CALENDAR (Times EDT ) see https://wikio.nrao.edu/bin/view/ALMA/AlmaCalendar Mon 28 Aug 09:30 AM: Special Board telecon on Opertions Tue 29 Aug 10:30 AM-11:30 AM: JAO IPT Telecon 4:00 PM-5:00 PM: NAScienceIPT teleconference Wed 30 Aug 10:30 AM: ScienceIPT teleconference Thu 31 Aug ALMA Interim Project Scientist Ryohei Kawabe in Santiago Fri 1 Sep 2:00 PM: ANASAC Telecon Sat 2 Sep Sun 3 Sep Mon 4 Sep Labor Day Holiday, USA Tue 5 Sep 10:30 AM-11:30 AM: JAO IPT Telecon 11:00 AM: ASAC Telecon Wed 6 Sep All Day: ESAC face-to-face meeting, Garching Thu 7 Sep Fri 8 Sep Sat 9 Sep ALMA Interim Project Scientist Ryohei Kawabe departs Santiago Sun 10 Sep Grandparent's Day Holiday (US) Mon 11 Sep Patriot's Day (US) ****************************** UPCOMING EVENTS **************************** Sept 5 ASAC Telecon Sept 6 ESAC face-to-face Sept 16-17 all day ASAC face-to-face Arcetri Sept 22-23 evening Dave Matthews Band CV JPJ Arena opening Sept 27-29 Vertex RSI PPDReview Essen Sept 29-30 all day ANASAC face-to-face CV Oct 2 Move of PSI to ATF Oct 8 - 11 all day WVR Workshop Wettzell, Bavarian Congo November 9-10 all day ALMA Board Meeting Madrid Nov 13-16 all day Science with ALMA: a new era for Astrophysics Madrid ******************************* TECHNICAL NEWS **************************** ALMA Memo 553 First Astronomical Observations with an ALMA Band 6 (211-275 GHz) Sideband-Separating SIS Mixer-Preamp Authors: E. F. Lauria, A. R. Kerr, G. Reiland, R. F. Freund, A.W. Lichtenberger, L. M. Ziurys, M. Metcalf and D. Forbes A 211-275 GHz SIS receiver using an ALMA Band 6 sideband-separating mixer-preamp has been installed on the Submillimeter Telescope (SMT) on Mt. Graham, Arizona, a facility of the University of Arizona. Initial observations have yielded single-sideband system noise temperatures as low as 107 K referred to outside the atmosphere. The image rejection, measured on the sky, was > 12 dB (15 dB typical) for the upper sideband, and > 20 dB for the lower sideband. Excellent baseline stability was also observed: a 4° position offset in galactic latitude yielded a peak-to-peak baseline of only 10 mK. The receiver has separate 4-8 GHz IF outputs for the upper and lower sidebands, although in the present observations the instantaneous bandwidth was limited by the available spectrometers to 2 GHz in each sideband. View a pdf version of ALMA Memo #553 at: http://www.alma.nrao.edu/memos/html-memos/alma553/memo553.pdf ******************************ALSO OF INTEREST***************************** ALMA PROJECT SCIENTIST The ALMA Project Scientist is responsible for ensuring that ALMA is constructed and commissioned in such a manner as to meet the scientific requirements of the ALMA Agreement. As a Key Staff Member of the JAO, the Project Scientist will contribute to decision making, overall policy development and strategic planning. The Project Scientist reports directly to the ALMA Director and interacts closely with the Project Manager and Project Engineer. Please see: http://www.nrao.edu/administration/personnel_office/careers.shtml#CL0005 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jansky Fellowship The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) announces the 2007 postdoctoral Jansky Fellowship program that provides outstanding opportunities for research in astronomy. The Jansky Fellows formulate and carry out investigations either independently or in collaboration with others within the wide framework of interests of the Observatory. Prior radio experience is not required and multi-wavelength projects leading to a synergy with NRAO instruments are encouraged. The NRAO also encourages applications from candidates with interest in radio astronomy instrumentation, computation, and theory. Please see: http://www.nrao.edu/administration/directors_office/jansky-postdocs.shtml ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ESO has an opening for European ALMA Project Scientist. Please see: http://www.eso.org/gen-fac/adm/pers/vacant/alma_project_scientist_2006.html University of Cambridge ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Research Associate position in Department of Physics University of Cambridge Radiometric Phase Correction for ALMA Closing date: 30 September 2006 Limit of tenure: 31 December 2010 The Astrophysics Group of the Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, invites applications for a postdoctoral research associate to work on radiometric phase correction techniques, algorithms and software development for ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimetre Array. The Group conducts a broad programme of astrophysics research involving instrumentation, observation, theory and modelling. This post is funded by the European Union Framework 6 programme and ESO to further the group’s leading role in the development of phase correction techniques for ALMA. The work will involve analysis of existing test data from our 183GHz radiometers, development of novel algorithms for optimal phase correction, and implementation of these algorithms within the ALMA software system. In addition, the postholder may assist with the specification and commissioning of the ALMA meteorological instruments required to support the radiometer system. The appointment will be on the Research Associate scale (currently £23,457 - £30,607 per annum) at a level determined by skills and experience. Expenses for travel associated with the project are provided. The position is available immediately, and we hope the successful applicant will be able to start in the very near future. Further information may be obtained from: Mrs Karen Scrivener, Astrophysics Group, Cavendish Laboratory, J J Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0HE, tel: (01223) 337294 (karen@mrao.cam.ac.uk). Informal enquiries may be made to Dr John Richer (jsr@mrao.cam.ac.uk). Applications should contain a full CV and list of publications, together with the names and contact details of two referees, a brief summary of research interests, and a completed copy of the PD18 Cover Sheet (parts I and III only), available from http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/personnel/forms/pd18/ The University is committed to equality of opportunity. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- There will be a current Call for Proposals for the Submillimeter Array (SMA), the radio interferometer on Mauna Kea built by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics. The SMA is currently accepting proposals from principle investigators from within the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics as well as from the worldwide astronomical community. The proposal deadline is 7 September 2006 for the observing semester 6 November 2006 through 30 April 2007. More information, technical details, and instructions and tools for proposal preparation and submission can be found at http://sma1.sma.hawaii.edu/, the SMA Observer Center web site. Questions or comments regarding the Call for Proposals can also be addressed to proposals@sma.hawaii.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asian Radio Astronomy Winter School Second Circular Asian Radio Astronomy Winter School January 22-26, 2007 National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan Registration is open for the Asian Radio Astronomy Winter School. Please visit the on-line registration page on our web site (http://vsop.mtk.nao.ac.jp/RAWS2007/), and fill out all items in the registration form. The deadline for registration *with financial support* is October 6, 2006. The final deadline for registration is November 3, 2006. ================================================================================ Astronomer Michael Belton, long of NOAO, was in the second NRAO Summer Student class in 1960. In his honor, a meeting 'Belton Symposium: Journey Through the Solar System: A Symposium in Honor of Dr. Michael J. S. Belton' will be held this Fall. Several deadlines for the Belton Symposium that will be held November 10 & 11 in Tucson, AZ are coming up: Abstract Submission Deadline: August 31, 2006 Early Registration Deadline : September 15, 2006 After this deadline the registration fee will increase. For registration and details see www.noao.edu/meetings/belton *************************************************************************** Please send information for upcoming calendars by Friday evening of the preceding biweekly period to Jennifer Neighbours or Al Wootten via e-mail (jneighbo at nrao.edu or awootten at nrao.edu). The calendar will be issued between late Friday and sometime on Monday by e-mail to all NRAO scientific staff members and anyone else interested. A specific mailing list, alma-info, has been created for anyone wishing to receive it. Past issues are available at http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~awootten/mmaimcal/ALMACalendars.html