German ALMA Regional Centre (ARC) Node

The Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) is a revolutionary interferometer for mm and submm astronomy in the Atacama desert in Northern Chile. It is operated by a global collaboration between Europe (ESO), North America (NRAO) and East Asia (NAOJ), in cooperation with Chile. The interface between ALMA and the user communities is provided by three ALMA Regional Centres (ARCs) in Europe, North America and East Asia.

The European ARC (EU ARC) is organized as a coordinated network with a central node at ESO Headquarters in Garching bei München and regional nodes located in Bologna(I), Bonn/Cologne(D), Grenoble(F), Leiden(NL), Manchester(GB), Ondrejov(CZ), and Onsala(S). The concept and the implementation of the EU ARC network has been described in an article in the ESO Messenger (Hatziminaoglou et al. 2015, Msngr. 162, 24).

The German ARC node is a collaboration of the universities of Bonn and Cologne. Its headquarters are located at the Argelander-Institut für Astronomie in Bonn. The German ARC node provides services to ALMA operations, the local astronomical community and the general public:

Newsletters and Announcements

German ALMA Community Day 2026

 The next Call for Proposals for observing time with ALMA (Cycle 13) is anticipated to be issued on 19 March 2026. The deadline for proposals is expected to be on 23 April 2026, with observations starting in October 2026. Capabilities and modes offered in Cycle 13 will include Large Programs and Band 2 on the 12-m Array. Please refer to the announcement for early proposal planning for Cycle 13 and the update on band 2 for more details.

As a kick-off into the proposal preparation season, the German ARC node cordially invites its community to gather at the German ALMA Community Day 2026.

Place: Argelander-Institut für Astronomie, Auf dem Hügel 71, 53121 Bonn
Date: Thursday, 26 March 2026, starting at 10:00 CEST

Registration for this event will open in late February. Please save the date!

Upcoming Science Verification Data Release - Band 2

 A new release of Science Verification data is planned in late February. This release of Band 2 data will consist of the following targets:
  • G31.41+0.31: spectral scan in Band 2
  • SPT 0027-50: spectral scan in Band 2
  • HR 5907: full polarization in Band 2
Details of the targets will be listed on the Science Verification web page. There will be a separate announcement once the data are released.

The band 2 Science Verification data on Arp220 will be released at a later date and will be announced when the data are ready for release.

Update on Band 2 for early proposal planning for Cycle 13

 Band 2 (67 - 116 GHz) is anticipated to be offered on the 12-m Array from the start of Cycle 13 (October 2026). As with previous new band introductions (e.g Band 1), the exact start date and number of available antennas may be subject to operational and technical constraints. Based on current receiver integration progress, up to ~43 Band 2 receivers may be available at the start of the cycle. Details on the anticipated capabilities and constraints can be found here. Full details will be published in the Cycle 13 Call for Proposals.

New Feature in ALMA Science Archive: Morphological Image Similarity Search

 The ALMA Science Archive (ASA) now allows you to visually search for images that are morphologically similar to a given ASA image (currently 259,126 continuum images and 196,322 peak-flux images of data-cubes) with the aim to help you find such images extremely rapidly within the vast ASA holdings.

A description of the state-of-the-art deep learning method used to determine similar images and of the interface can be found in this ESO Messenger article. A brief tutorial is provided in this news item.