BIWEEKY CALENDAR OF THE ALMA PROJECT at NRAO
                          5 October - 19 October 2009

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ALMA Meets the Skies at Chajnantor

Please see:
http://www.nrao.edu/news/newsletters/enews/enews_2_10/enews_2_10.shtml#alma

On 23 September, the first antenna delivered to the ALMA Assembly Integration
 and Verification (AIV) continued a long voyage that had begun in Osaka, Japan, 
traveling on the transporter to become the first antenna to reach the 5050m 
Array Operations Site (AOS). Within a little over a week, its pointing had 
been confirmed and observations of astronomical sources had begun with its 
sensitive receivers. These observations were the first acquired at the AOS, 
the first astronomical spectra taken with the 64-element correlator, and 
the first data taken using the central local oscillator. By the end of 
October, the antenna will be joined by another antenna as preparations 
for submillimeter interferometry at the site move forward.

The antenna foundation at the OSF, from which the antenna left for the AOS, 
didn’t stand vacant for long. Soon DV03, the third Vertex antenna, became 
the fourth antenna to arrive in the AIV team’s hands. At press time, the
team at the OSF was performing tests on four ALMA antennas at the two 
sites. Single antenna tests were under way at the AOS with the newly 
repositioned antenna and at the OSF with the newly accepted antenna. 
The two antennas remaining at the OSF continued their interferometric 
tests. The spot vacated by the newly accepted antenna left an opening 
for construction of the next antenna. Nine antennas are in various 
stages of construction at the Vertex Site Erection Facility. Elements 
of three additional antennas are located at the Alcatel facility, and 
three Mitsubishi antennas are being readied for acceptance over the 
coming weeks. The first of the twelve Mitsubishi 7m antennas, to be 
located in the Atacama Compact Array, has been shipped from Japan and 
is expected in a few weeks at the OSF.

Figures at the link given above include:
Fig. 1 The first ALMA antenna at the 5050m altitude Llano Chajnantor 
stands on pad 106. To its left is the Array Operations Site Technical
 Building that houses the correlator, the central local oscillator, 
and other equipment beneath the site's spectacularly clear skies. The 
antenna is controlled entirely from the lower elevation Operations Support 
Facility, a few dozen kilometers away.

Fig. 2 Three Vertex antennas, including the newly accepted DV03, stand 
ready for duty in the OSF test area.
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Please see the current issue of the Joint ALMA Observatory Newsletter, October 2009
URL: http://www.almaobservatory.org/en/newsroom/newsletter/173-newsletter-no-3
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Past issues of this Calendar may be viewed at
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~awootten/mmaimcal/ALMACalendars.html
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General Happenings
Photos of activity may be found at NRAO eNews:
http://www.nrao.edu/news/newsletters/

A calendar of NAASC events may be found at:
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/naasc/alma_calendar.shtml
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DAILY CALENDAR (Times EDT/EST ) see
https://wikio.nrao.edu/bin/view/ALMA/AlmaCalendar
     Nov 11-12    ALMA Board face-to-face meeting, Santiago
     Nov 16-      Annual ALMA External Review, Santiago
******************************* TECHNICAL NEWS *************************
*****************************ALSO OF INTEREST***************************
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