ALMA Matters

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By Brenda Matthews and Gerald Schieven (ALMA)
(Cassiopeia – Spring 2024)

Cycle 10 Resumes

Cycle 10 observing resumed on schedule after the February shutdown. Band 1 PI observations started last week (with ~40 antennas). ALMA is currently in Configuration 1 and will change to Configuration 2 on 25 March 2024. ALMA will remain in Configuration 2 until 19 April.

Cycle 11 Call for Proposals

On 21 March, the Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) will issue the call for proposals for Cycle 11, which will run October 2024 through September 2025.  The proposal deadline is expected to be 25 April 2024 at 15h UT.

Some of the new capabilities being offered in Cycle 11 include:

  • Band 1 (35 GHz to 50 GHz) full polarization on all antennas of the 12-m Array with the same capability and accuracy as Bands 3-7
  • Band 1 Stokes I on the 7-m Array
  • Full range of configurations (C-1 through C-10) in all bands (Bands 1, 3-10) on the 12-m Array
  • For a full list of capabilities, refer to the ALMA Proposer’s Guide on the documents and tools page

For complete information on the call for proposals, see the documents and tools page.

Cycle 11 ALMA Ambassadors

The selected Cycle 11 ALMA Ambassadors include two Canadians: Jess Speedie of the University of Victoria and Hamid Hassani of the University of Alberta.  Both will be hosting workshops on data reduction in fall 2024 at their home institutions. Jess Speedie intends to host a hybrid workshop to enable participation beyond local participants. Watch this space for more information on these workshops in the next eCass.

The ALMA Ambassador Program provides training and an up to $10,000 research grant to postdoctoral researchers, senior graduate students, and early career researchers interested in expanding their ALMA/interferometry expertise and sharing that knowledge with their home institutions.  The selected Ambassadors receive training at the NRAO headquarters in Charlottesville, VA on topics including interferometry basics, ALMA science capabilities, proposal writing, and guidance on speaking on these topics.  For more information and to apply for the program, see here.

ALMA Primer Video Series

The ALMA Primer Instructional Video series, which can be found on the Science Portal here, is designed to provide a basic introduction to radio interferometry, calibration, imaging, and other topics in short (5-10 minute), easy-to-digest segments.  As a work in progress, new videos are released periodically.  A new video, an Introduction to Self-Calibration, was recently released.  In this ~8 minute video, we look at Self-Calibration, how it works, and how and when to use this powerful technique that can significantly improve the dynamic range of your images.  A new video on Sidebands, Basebands and Spectral Windows will be released soon.

Other videos in the series include an Introduction to Radio Interferometry, Calibration, CLEAN, and much more.  Subscribe to the ALMA Primer Video Series youTube channel to be alerted to new videos as they are released.

We are always looking for ideas for new videos, and especially looking for people who would like to help with script generation, animation, and narration.  If you have an idea or would like to join the Primer Video Working Group (at any level of effort), please contact gerald.schieven@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca

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