From muehle at astro.uni-bonn.de Fri Oct 12 15:31:37 2012 From: muehle at astro.uni-bonn.de (Stefanie Muehle) Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2012 15:31:37 +0200 (CEST) Subject: [DARC] ALMA news October 2012 Message-ID: Dear Colleagues, in this edition of the German ARC node newsletter, you will find news on the following topics: * course "Practical Radio Interferometry 2012/13" * ESO Science Release eso1239: Surprising Spiral Structure around R Scl * Update on ALMA Cycle 0 Observations * ALMA splinter at the Meeting of the Astronomische Gesellschaft * Upcoming conferences and meetings * Calendar of Events If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the German ARC node at arc[at]astro.uni-bonn.de. With best regards, Stefanie Muehle (for the German ARC node) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Practical Radio Interferometry 2012/13 ====================================== Like in previous years, the German ARC node organizes a lecture course with tutorials at the Argelander-Institut f?r Radioastronomie in Bonn, starting on October 17. The course "Practical Radio Interferometry" offers a hands-on overview of major aspects of radio/mm/submm interferometry for master students, PhD students and more senior astronomers. The lectures start with a general introduction to interferometry and data reduction, followed by presentations of special aspects of radio astronomical observations given by experts of their respective fields. The course also comprises a hands-on tutorial, where participants learn how to reduce interferometric data with AIPS and CASA. A detailed program can be found at http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/ARC/pri2012/ If you consider attending the course or some part of it, please send an email to muehle at astro.uni-bonn.de. We will then keep you informed of all updates regarding the course. We offer r e m o t e a c c e s s to the lectures and tutorials (on an experimental basis) using skype version 5. Please inform us in advance if you plan to attend some or all lectures and tutorials from a remote location. Stefanie Muehle (for the German ARC node) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ESO Science Release eso1239: Surprising Spiral Structure around R Scl ===================================================================== Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have discovered a totally unexpected spiral structure in the material around the old star R Sculptoris. This is the first time that such a structure, along with an outer spherical shell, has been found around a red giant star. It is also the first time that astronomers could get full three-dimensional information about such a spiral. The strange shape was probably created by a hidden companion star orbiting the red giant. This work is one of the first ALMA early science results to be published and it appears in the journal Nature this week. The release, images and videos are available on: http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1239/ [www.eso.org] Translations are available in: Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese/Brazil, Portuguese/Portugal, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian Space Scoop - the children's version of this release is available at: http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1239/kids/ Kind regards, The ESO Education and Public Outreach Department 10 October 2012 Related press releases of this study, which was led by Matthias Maercker, ESO ALMA Cofund Fellow and a member of the German ARC node, can be found at http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/ http://medienportal.univie.ac.at/presse/aktuelle-pressemeldungen/detailansicht/artikel/nature-wirbelsturm-um-roten-riesenstern-entdeckt/ http://www.chalmers.se/sv/nyheter/Sidor/Spiral-i-rymden-berattar-om-solens-framtid.aspx ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update on ALMA Cycle 0 observations =================================== The Joint ALMA Observatory has released an update on ALMA Cycle 0 observations. The article describes past and current configurations, the progress made in each Early Science observing session, the number of scheduling blocks in the various stages of the quality assurance process and other statistical information on Cycle 0. The full article can be downloaded from the section "General News" at the ALMA Science Portal at ESO at http://almascience.eso.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALMA splinter at the Meeting of the Astronomische Gesellschaft ============================================================== In the framework of the Annual Meeting of the Astronomische Gesellschaft 2012, the German ARC node organized the splinter meeting "First Science with ALMA". Besides news from ALMA and an outline of the suppport available to (prospective) ALMA users, there were 4 talks on observed or planned ALMA projects and one talk on data analysis tools during the well-attended splinter session that took place on the afternoon of Friday, September 28. Besides the splinter, the German ARC node was present at the AG meeting with two posters on the current status of ALMA and the ALMA support structure. Stefanie Muehle (for the German ARC node) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Upcoming conferences and meetings ================================= International Symposium on Frontiers in Radio Astronomy 2012 ------------------------------------------------------------ Guiyang, China, 29 October-3 November http://fra2012.csp.escience.cn We are excited to announce the first international science symposium "Frontiers in Radio Astronomy" to be held in Guiyang, China between Oct 29th and Nov 3rd. This meeting will focus on recent development in radio astronomy and to explore the promises of FAST early science operation. The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) is a Chinese "mega-science" project (arXiv:1105.3794) funded by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and managed by the National Astronomical Observatories (NAO) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Incorporating a series of innovative engineering concepts and designs, FAST will be the largest radio antenna upon the finishing of its construction. FAST also represents Chinese contribution to the international efforts to build the square kilometer array (SKA). Sited in the Guizhou province in southwestern part of China, FAST is expected to produce first light toward the end of 2016. To support science preparation and train young radio astronomers with first hand experience, the Ministry of Science and Technology granted a fundamental science program (program 973) titled "Frontiers in Radio Astronomy and FAST Early Science" between 2012 and 2016. Based on the capacity and science drivers of FAST, the 973 program aims to integrate six interdependent and complementary subjects with the observational techniques of FAST. The six subjects are 1. Radio observations and theoretical studies of Pulsars; 2. From atoms to stars: radio studies of the interstellar medium and the star formation; 3. Galaxy structure and evolution; 4. Cosmology and dark mater; 5. Radio spectroscopy and Masers; 6. Low-frequency multi-beam receivers and the design of VLBI systems. With the first FAST science symposium, we hope to bring together international experts in these and related fields to foster frank discussion and help refine the science goals of FAST. ADVANCED RADIO ASTRONOMY - Commissioning Skills and Preparation for the ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SKA --- JBCA, University of Manchester, UK, 13-16 November 2012 http://www.alma.ac.uk/events/radionet-advanced-radio-astronomy The number of prospective radio interferometry users is increasing very rapidly thanks to new and upgraded radio interferometry arrays coming into operation (ALMA, e-MERLIN, JVLA, KAT7, LOFAR ...) and those planned or under construction (ASCAP, MeerKAT, NOEMA, SKA etc.). All these telescopes aim to make their data accessible to astronomers with an interest in the science, not necessarily in the dirty details of techniques. Nonetheless, there is still a need for a core of experts to lead ambitious science projects and to test, operate and develop radio instruments. This workshop will communicate skills that you need to help comission a radio interferometry array or work on early science data. The new arrays coming into operation have all found a shortage of scientists able and willing to help troubleshoot early science. Talks and discussion sessions will share best practices between people working on the arrays, lessons from comissioning scientists and the experiences of working on early science data. Real issues which have arisen at individual arrays will be used as examples for problem-solving group sessions, but the skills of improvisation, troubleshooting and working at the interface between astronomer and engineers, are very widely applicable. There are no fixed qualifications for attendance but in case of over-subscription, people with some radio astronomy experience will be prioritised. There will be opportunities to contribute your experience, with a few slides if wanted. There is no registration fee but please register as soon as possible since capacity is limited. http://www.alma.ac.uk/events/RegisterAdvancedRadioInterferometry RadioNetARICSNov2012 at jb.man.ac.uk Looking forward to seeing you in November, the Organising Committee Advanced Chilean astro-engineering school-workshop -------------------------------------------------- Santiago, Chile, 27-30 NOVEMBER 2012 http://www.aiuc.puc.cl/taller2012 Organized by the Astro-Engineering Center of Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Universidad de Chile and Universidad de Concepci?n. The school-workshop objective is to congregate researchers, engineers, postdocs and students who work in astronomical technologies and are associated to instrumentation projects in Chile. It will be held in Santiago, Chile, at the Foreign Affairs Ministry premises. Details will appear shortly in the First Announcement and at http://www.aiuc.puc.cl/taller2012 Leopoldo Infante Pontificia Universidad Cat?lica de Chile Director Centro de Astro-Ingenier?a (AIUC) ALMA Single Dish and Array Combination workshop ----------------------------------------------- Santiago, Chile, 17-19 December This workshop will be held in Santiago 17 to 19 December 2012, (just after the ALMA First Year of Science Meeting). Topics include: * Field use and testing by astronomers of the initial package which is available * Forward-looking talks about the theory and improvement of the single dish plus interferometric effort. Please send your interest in attending this workshop to Ed Fomalont efomalon at nrao.edu Ryohei Kawabe ryo.kawabe at nao.ac.jp A more detailed agenda will be produced around the end of October. Solar ALMA workshop ------------------- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, UK, January 14-17, 2013 http://www.astro.gla.ac.uk/~eduard/solarALMA/ The workshop objective is to bring together the ALMA-minded solar community to discuss solar observational issues and science with ALMA and to plan future proposals. Details will appear shortly at http://www.astro.gla.ac.uk/~eduard/solarALMA/ Astrochemistry in the ALMA era ------------------------------- Workshop at Univ. Copenhagen January 28th-31st, 2013 http://youngstars.nbi.dk/alma2013 ALMA is expected to allow a significant step forward in our understanding of the processes regulating the physical and chemical structure of the interstellar medium in a variety of astrophysical environments from star and planet forming regions to late type stars and galaxies. It is now time to review the scientific output of the many Herschel and ground based molecular line surveys conducted in recent years, present ALMA early science results and identify the outstanding scientific questions that can be addressed with ALMA. In the workshop we expect to review and discuss the results of ongoing surveys especially in view of the need of high angular resolution requirements proper analysis and line identification. The full ALMA array will provide the much needed image fidelity and sensitivity to determine whether complex molecules originate at the same or different locations. Another key topic that we will address are the relative merits of performing ALMA complete spectral scans versus a more careful selection of spectral regions to answer the specific scientific questions. At the workshop we will also discuss the progress with the advanced data analysis tools for line surveys that have been and are being developed in Europe in the framework of the Herschel and ALMA preparations initiatives and with the support of Astronet (ARTIST, CASSIS and CATS), as well as those developed elsewhere. Finally, we will review recent results from laboratory astrophysics and what is needed for interpreting incoming data - e.g., in terms more complete line lists and collision rate coefficients. For more information about the workshop and registration, see http://youngstars.nbi.dk/alma2013. Limited travel support will be available through funding from ESO and Radionet. If needed, please contact the organizers at alma2013 -at-?nbi.dk. Transformational Science with ALMA: 2013 Rocks! ----------------------------------------------- >From Dust to Rocks to Planets Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hilton Waikoloa Village, The Big Island of Hawaii, 8-12 April 2013 http://www.cv.nrao.edu/rocks/index.html In this workshop, investigators from around the world will meet in Hawaii to explore the evolution of material in protostellar disks from formation to dissipation. The Island of Hawaii is home to the largest observatory in the Northern Hemisphere, and is the site of extensive, collaborative, international research efforts. A focus of the workshop will be the processing of the gas and dust components, and the growth of planetesimals. We will also explore chemical changes, and radiative signatures at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. We will showcase results from ALMA early science projects and feature synergies with other telescopes that can help to advance this field, particularly those sited on the island of Hawaii. This workshop will prepare us for the exciting adventures ahead in the new era and will not only focus on the new opportunities in astronomy but also foster new collaborations with geologists, chemists, engineers and biologists to investigate the origins of cosmic material in the universe. This workshop, with its broad, international scope, will allow students and recent post-docs to learn about the cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research opportunities available with ALMA. Most importantly, beginning researchers will participate in the workshop in a substantial, meaningful way by presenting posters and partnering with mentors before and during the workshop. We hope these collaborations will continue well beyond the end of this meeting and a whole new set of researchers will emerge to use ALMA. Specifically, this workshop will address the following questions: 1. When do circumstellar disks first form and how? 2. How does gas evolve in circumstellar disks? 3. What is the origin of the gaps and holes in "transition disks"? 4. What are the observational signatures of embedded planets in circumstellar disks? 5. What is the process of grain growth and evolution? 6. Can we fully ascertain the physical and chemical processing of planetary materials, and their connections to meteorites, planetesimals, comets, and KBOs? 7. What is the full extent of disk chemistry and what is the detectable limit of molecular material in disks? 8. What do millimeter continuum and spectral line observations tell us about solar system bodies? 9. Polarimetry and magnetic activities in the protostellar envelopes and inner disks 10. Instruments in Hawaii that could facilitate the sciences featured in this workshop 2013 Rocks! is committed to broadening participation by women and under-represented minorities, as we prepare for the exciting adventures ahead in the new era! The Modern Radio Universe ------------------------- Bonn, Germany, 22 - 26 April 2013 https://indico.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/indico/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=21 PLEASE PRE-REGISTER ON: https://indico.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/indico/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=21 80 years ago, in spring 1933, Karl Jansky published his discovery of cosmic radio emission. This paved the way not only for a new discipline, radio astronomy, but also for an exploration of the universe that now encompasses almost the entire electromagnetic window. Nowadays, radio astronomy is about to enter into yet another "golden era" with a number of new or upgraded radio facilities coming online and major new initiatives, like the SKA, are starting up. This conference will try to highlight the original and exciting science currently being produced by radio astronomical facilities, such as the Effelsberg telescope, the GBT, LOFAR, ALMA, the Karl Jansky VLA, eMERLIN, EVN, VLBA, as well as the pathfinder experiments of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), and others. The advanced science delivered by the radio astronomical community will improve our current knowledge of the universe, highlight new trends, and address key questions in modern astrophysics that may lead us to even more ambitious science goals to be targeted by future radio facilities like the SKA. Science areas that will be discussed are among others: Cosmology, galaxy evolution, AGN and compact objects, star formation, interstellar medium, The Milky Way and Galactic science, radio transients, fundamental and astroparticle physics, extreme physics and associated theory. In particular: * From the dark ages to cosmic large scale structure (EoR, dark energy, HI web) * Galaxies and galaxy evolution (HI, radio continuum, magnetic fields) * Stars and star formation (masers, radio stars, planetary radio emission, disks) * Interstellar and Intergalactic Medium (physical processes in the ISM and IGM) * Compact Objects (AGN, X-ray binaries, neutron stars, radio transients) * Tests of fundamental physics (pulsars, fundamental constants) The last Modern Radio Universe took place 2007 in Manchester commemorating 50 years of the Lovell telescope and looking forward towards the SKA. This issue of the conference commemorates the groundbreaking work of Karl Jansky 80 years ago and comes 40 years after the Effelsberg 100m telescope started operations. The conference will consist of invited talks (approx. 20 min) and 15 min contributed talks (potentially a few 30 min review talks) plus posters. In short, combining past and future of radio astronomy, the main focus of the science presentations, will be to make an inventory of outstanding science results that are presently being obtained by the newly upgraded or constructed facilities. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Calendar of Events: =================== 15-19 Oct. 2012 8th IRAM mm Interferometry School, Grenoble http://www.iram-institute.org/EN/content-page-248-7-67-248-0-0.html 29 Oct-03 Nov 2012 International Symposium on Frontiers in Radio Astronomy 2012, Guiyang, China http://fra2012.csp.escience.cn November 2012 results of the proposal review for ALMA Cycle 1 expected 13-16 Nov. 2012 ADVANCED RADIO ASTRONOMY - Commissioning Skills and Preparation for the SKA, JBCA, University of Manchester, UK http://www.alma.ac.uk/events/radionet-advanced-radio-astronomy 27-30 Nov. 2012 Advanced Chilean astro-engineering school-workshop, Santiago, Chile http://www.aiuc.puc.cl/taller2012 12-15 Dec. 2012 conference "The First Year of ALMA Science", Chile http://www.almasc.org/2012/ 17-19 Dec. 2012 ALMA Single Dish and Array Combination workshop, Santiago, Chile 01 Jan. 2013 Start of ALMA Cycle 1 observing 14-17 Jan. 2013 Solar ALMA workshop, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, UK http://www.astro.gla.ac.uk/~eduard/solarALMA/ 28-31 Jan. 2013 Astrochemistry in the ALMA era, Univ. Copenhagen, Denmark http://youngstars.nbi.dk/alma2013 08-12 Apr. 2013 Transformational Science with ALMA: 2013 Rocks! http://www.cv.nrao.edu/rocks/index.html 22-26 Apr. 2013 The Modern Radio Universe, Bonn, Germany https://indico.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/indico/conferenceDisplay.py?confId=21 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more information on the German ARC node, please visit http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/ARC/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more information on this mailing list, please visit http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/mailman/listinfo/darc ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From muehle at astro.uni-bonn.de Tue Oct 23 17:19:27 2012 From: muehle at astro.uni-bonn.de (Stefanie Muehle) Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2012 17:19:27 +0200 (CEST) Subject: [DARC] Newsflash: Release of new ALMA Science Verification data Message-ID: Dear Colleagues, a new installment of Science Verification data is planned for release on 26 October 2012. The data sets that will be included in this release correspond to targets suggested by the community and listed in Table 2 of the Science Verification web page: http://almascience.eso.org/alma-data/science-verification The release will include the following Science Verification datasets: - The protoplanetary disk HD163296: multiple spectral lines, demonstrating the mixed modes capability, at Bands 6 and 7 - The Galactic Centre, Sgr A*: recombination lines at Band 3 Future science verification releases will also be preceded by a similar announcement. (source: Science Portal at ESO http://almascience.eso.org/news/announcement-of-intent-to-release-a-new-installment-of-science-verification-data) If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the German ARC node at arc[at]astro.uni-bonn.de. With best regards, Stefanie Muehle (for the German ARC node) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more information on the German ARC node, please visit http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/ARC/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more information on this mailing list, please visit http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/mailman/listinfo/darc -------------------------------------------------------------------------