MONTHLY CALENDAR OF THE ALMA PROJECT at NRAO March 2010 ******************************** THIS FORTNIGHT************************* ALMA’s First Change of Antenna Configuration ALMA construction continues at full throttle after the Chilean earthquake, which disrupted transportation within the country and caused a short delay. There was no damage to the facility, which is located far north of the damaged areas. The people who comprise the ALMA team were of course affected, as many had friends, colleagues and family who were involved; recovery for them continues. Two ALMA antennas were moved on 21 and 22 March respectively to antenna stations within the cluster of stations designated for the Atacama Compact Array (ACA). Up until 22 March, the ALMA antennas at the 16500 foot elevation Array Operations Site (AOS) have been at stations on baselines of about ~150m and run on local generator power. This marks the first change of configurations for the fledgling array; determination of the new baselines was accomplished in short order, aided by splendid weather (recently below .5 mm precipitable water vapor at the site). The shorter baselines (~30m) on the ACA stations afford a more stable platform for many commissioning tests. Furthermore, a central power station is now available at the AOS for powering the antennas. Early in April the third antenna will be moved to an ACA station; in its present location 560m distant it provides two long baselines for other tests (e.g. of water vapor radiometry). At the Operations Support Facility (OSF) lower down the mountains, four antennas are going through testing. Two of these are nearly through their hurdles and will join those at the summit in due course. The two antennas accepted several weeks ago are undergoing pointing and holography tests preparatory to being outfitted with the full retinue of ALMA equipment. Another front end arrived from the European Front End Integration Center (FEIC) in the U. K. and is undergoing its acceptance tests before being fitted into one of these antennas. Another front end assembly is expected from the East Asian FEIC in Taiwan in early April. A highlight of the period was the successful installation of the backup structure assembled at the AEM facility of the OSF onto the mount structure. This marked the first integration of the major structural components of one of these antennas, which make extensive use of carbon fiber. A second antenna has now had its major components mated also. At midmonth, Mark McKinnon became ALMA/North American Project Manager. He continues to work closely with Adrian Russell, who will remain North American Project Director until his departure to ESO this summer. Richard Prestage, Head of the Division of Technical Services (DTS) at the Joint ALMA Office in Chile, announced that he was returning to NRAO. Prestage, as first DTS Head, laid a solid foundation for the future of ALMA operations. Thijs de Graauw, ALMA Director said ‘Richard has made an invaluable contribution to the project so we are very sad to see him go.’ De Graauw also announced a new interim organization for DTS. --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Past issues of this Calendar may be viewed at http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~awootten/mmaimcal/ALMACalendars.html *************************************************************************** General Happenings Photos of activity may be found at NRAO eNews: http://www.nrao.edu/news/newsletters/ AOS: On Thursday, 1 April, ALMA antenna DV02 is scheduled to be moved from its pad some 500m distant from the other two onto a foundation in the Atacama Compact Array. In late April, the fourth antenna is scheduled to be moved to the AOS from the OSF, where it is undergoing final verification testing. NAASC: A funding proposal to support NA ALMA Operations and the NAASC for the 2012-2015 time period was submitted to NSF on March 31. The next three NAASC Postdoctoral Fellows have accepted their appointments. They are: - Robin Pulliam (UAz), to start June 2010 - Amy Kimball (U.Wash), to start Sept 2010 - Nuria Marcelino (Laboratory for Molecular Astrophysics, Madrid) to start Nov 2010 Kartik Sheth and Al Wootten finished exciting 4 and 3 month turnos as part of the CSV team in Chile. Anthony Remijan and Harvey Liszt will join the team in April. The first components of the NA ALMA ARC Mirror Archive have been installed in the NRAO Edgemont Road building in Charlottesville. The NAASC will sponsor a "Preparing for ALMA" night at the 216th AAS meeting in Miami Florida. This session will be held on Monday, May 24 at 6pm. The NAASC will support CASA and Simdata tutorials, give walk-throughs of Splatalogue and the ALMA Observing Tool, and sponsor a "Preparing for ALMA" session as part of the 12th Synthesis Imaging Workshop in Socorro June 8-15 (http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/events/synthesis/2010/). *************************************************************************** DAILY CALENDAR (Times EDT/EST ) Mar 9-10 ALMA Science Advisory Committee f2f meeting NAOJ Apr 7-9 ALMA Board Meeting Santiago May 17-19 Cometary Radio Astronomy Green Bank, WV May 24 Preparing for ALMA Session AAS Jun 8 - 15 12th Synthesis Imaging Workshop Socorro, NM ******************************* TECHNICAL NEWS ************************* *****************************ALSO OF INTEREST*************************** NRAO Proposal Deadline Jun 1, 2010 | 5:00 PM No further information available at this time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CSO CALL FOR PROPOSALS Due: 31 May 2010 The Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) encourages observing participation by astronomers from both U.S. and non-U.S. institutions. For instructions on applying and for information about available instruments, including bolometer cameras, see http://www.submm.caltech.edu/cso/cso-call.html. Applications for observing time between 1 September 2010 through 31 January 2011 are due by 31 May 2010. Applications will be reviewed by an outside peer group. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ POSTDOCTORAL POSITION: CONDITIONS FOR STAR FORMATION A postdoctoral position in studies of star formation is available at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Aarhus University. The position is initially for 1.5 years with a possibility of extension pending satisfactory progress and continued funding. The position is available from January 1, 2010 or as soon as possible thereafter. For more information please contact David Field (Aarhus University), e-mail:dfield@phys.au.dk or Jes Jørgensen (Copenhagen University; coordinator research network), e-mail: jes@snm.ku.dky ------------------------------------------------------------------------ EVLA Commissioning Postdoc Position All applications received by April 30, 2010, will be given full consideration, but applications will continue to be accepted until the position is filled. Applications may be submitted online at https://careers.nrao.edu. *************************************************************************** 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