From rschaaf at astro.uni-bonn.de Mon Feb 25 10:05:01 2013 From: rschaaf at astro.uni-bonn.de (Reinhold Schaaf) Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2013 10:05:01 +0100 Subject: [DARC] ALMA news February 2012 Message-ID: <512B293D.2030402@astro.uni-bonn.de> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Dear colleagues, in this edition of the German ARC node newsletter, you will find news on the following topics: * CASA 4.0.1 fixes serious bug * New access to ALMA Science data * myXCLASS-Interface for CASA * First announcement: 7th IRAM 30m summerschool * Final announcement: Science with ALMA band 11 * 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, Reinhold Schaaf (for the German ARC node) - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- CASA 4.0.1 fixes serious bug ============================ A serious bug was reported in the CASA-4.0 release. The CASA team have analyzed the error and found an inconsistency in the uvw sign convention in CASA. Details can be found in the following memo: http://casa.nrao.edu/Memos/CoordConvention.pdf In summary, only flagging based on shadowing criteria will be affected, and the flags are applied to the shadowing rather than the shadowed antennas. Consequently, shadowing flagging will have flagged good data but left bad data unflagged. This can lead to calibration and imaging problems depending on the setup of the observations and subsequent flagging strategies. The shadowing flagging issue appeared in CASA 4.0 and higher in the "flagdata" task. In CASA 3.4 and lower the "tflagdata" task is affected, but not the regular "flagdata" task. It was decided to issue patched versions of CASA 4.0 and higher: - - CASA 4.0.1 is now available to replace the latest CASA 4.0 release. - - The latest CASA "stable" version, r22854 and higher, also include the patch for this problem. You may download the patched versions from the CASA download page: http://casa.nrao.edu/casa_obtaining.shtml For additional questions, please consult the CASA helpdesk: help.nrao.edu (general CASA issues) help.almascience.org (ALMA related CASA issues) (Source: Casa-isers mailing list) - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- New access to ALMA Science data =============================== ALMA Science data can now be accessed through the ALMA Science Portal at http://almascience.org/alma-data/archive Public data, i.e. currently data from Cycle 0 that are out of their 12 month proprietary period can be accessed anonymously. Proprietary data are only accessible to the PIs. PIs can allow access to their data to any registered ALMA user by logging into the Science Portal and adding delegees in the Project delegation tab of their user profile. Two ways of accessing the ALMA Science data are offered: 1) A query interface allows users to identify observations that match given search constraints and to download the corresponding data delivery packages. 2) Users who know which project(s) they are interested in can browse the list of data deliveries directly. (Source: ESO Science Portal) - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- myXCLASS-Interface for CASA =========================== The German ARC node (sub)group in Cologne led by Peter Schilke present a toolbox for the Common Astronomy Software Applications package (CASA) containing a couple of new functions for modeling interferometric and single dish data. The toolbox contains an interface for the model optimizer package MAGIX (modeling and analysis generic interface for external numerical codes), which helps to find the best description of the data using a certain model, i.e., finding the parameter set that most closely reproduces the data. Additionally, the toolbox provides a function to model the data by using the myXCLASS program. The myXCLASS program models the data by solving the radiative transfer equation for an isothermal object in one dimension, whereas the finite source size and dust attenuation are considered as well. Futhermore, the toolbox contains an interface for the CDMS (Cologne Database for Molecular Spectroscopy) database. Please see http://www.astro.uni-koeln.de/projects/schilke/myXCLASSInterface for all the details - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- First announcement: 7th IRAM 30m summerschool ============================================= The 7th IRAM 30m summerschool on Millimeter Astronomy will take place in the week of September 13 to 20 this year, in the ski resort Pradollano, in the Spanish Sierra Nevada, at only 15 minutes driving distance from the IRAM 30m telescope. Registration has now been opened. The school will combine lectures on millimeter astronomy with hands-on experience with the IRAM 30m telescope. Participants will form small work groups to observe a diverse set of objects of the local universe, ranging from distant galaxies at high redshifts to local galaxies and clouds in the Milky Way, and to sun-grazing comets in the solar system. Science lectures will be complemented by dedicated presentations on millimeter instrumentation, observing techniques, and data processing. The school is aimed at attracting young scientists to contemporary single-dish millimeter astronomy. It is limited to about 40 students who will be selected on the basis of their interests, CV, and references. More information is given on the IRAM homepage: http://www.iram-institute.org/EN/content-page-265-7-67-265-0-0.html (Source: IRAM) - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Final announcement: Science with ALMA band 11 ============================================= The open workshop "Science with ALMA band 11" will be held at Queen?s College, University of Oxford, UK, March 19th-20th, 2013. The rationale of the workshop follows: There are three atmospheric windows in the 1.0-1.6 THz frequency range, and these offer the potential of performing astronomical observations with ALMA at supra-terahertz frequencies. The realisation of ultra-high-resolution interferometry in the supra-terahertz windows is an exciting prospect, and would yield a unique, high profile return to the ALMA community. This would be prohibitively expensive to do in space, it cannot current be achieved using any other ground-based facility, and it would exploit ALMA?s capability to the limit. The challenges associated with operating at frequencies above 1 THz are great, but the scientific rewards are likely to be considerable and might well justify a long-term investment in this waveband. In order to assess the scientific potential of Band 11, and to perform preliminary quantitative studies of likely site characteristics and instrument performance, the European Southern Observatory has initiated a study that will result in a report on the scientific case for supra-terahertz operation. In the context of this study we are holding an Open Workshop at the University of Oxford in March 2013. The aims of the Workshop are: - to assess the scope of the scientific opportunities available - to develop the programmes within each of the main themes - to identify synergies with other space-borne and ground-based facilities and - to identify a number of top-level science cases. Topics include, but not exclusively, continuum emission from cold molecular clouds, far-infrared spectroscopy of galactic and extragalactic ISM cooling lines such as [CII],[NII],[OI], and [CI] and CO, light-hydride observations of prestellar cores, and solar-planet and extra-solar-planet observations. Although the Workshop will focus the overall science case for Band 11, the challenges will be put into context by having a small number of presentations on the site, likely interferometer performance, and technical difficulties. The discussion at the Workshop will play a vital role in formulating the report to ESO, which will be influential in determining the future of Band 11. Further information may be found at the Workshop web site http://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/almaband11/ (Source: http://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/almaband11) - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Calendar of Events ================== 19-20 Mar. 2013 Science with ALMA band 11, Oxford, UK http://www.alma.ac.uk/events/science-with-alma-band-11 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 08-12 July 2013 European Week of Astronomy and Space Science, Turky, F http://www.astro.utu.fi/EWASS2013/ 09-13 Sep. 2013 European Radio Interferometry School, Dwingeloo, NL register your interest at eris2013 at astron.nl 13-20 Seo. 2013 7th IRAM 30m summerschool on Millimeter Astronomy, Pradollano, Spain http://www.iram-institute.org/EN/ content-page-265-7-67-265-0-0.html 24-27 Sep. 2013 Annual Meeting of the Astronomische Gesellschaft, Tuebingen, D http://astro.uni-tuebingen.de/~AG2013/ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.11 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with undefined - http://www.enigmail.net/ iQEcBAEBAgAGBQJRKyk9AAoJEAIGDkxLskd+NRgH/iQT/HGXcZBi1Qy4eYGAwFlX 74YWnWStShOqCqugnB8lcwV69XEG1QotN5cJdGs4EQmGOXrKOt5DccJagVJCiIAs twHmgTomb1RmApQ1KtMoXJ6fsRQn+caXfNHvE3tCyXdICnseCI5CMTdt2i/m/ZSa 7NO9azcryax15RuRqALD0JZ3QOJs7JhX3ywR4wx1Dioz9OLOxIP7AkrUz6Io1iTW J/MBHDQNBE5bANIt3e43H1UukRccVMj/8MpyrZY/TOABDDBjVsd49k6lHBYoI+zW Ka9aAGpWG42/sXmZt6xLubbR+ZX0+xjC546+mpqhjNl6G+0hMHEewDhB6E2oQg8= =/ha5 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----