[mmaimcal] FYI: 11 Sept 2006 BIWEEKLY CALENDAR OF THE ALMA PROJECT at NRAO
Alwyn Wootten
awootten at nrao.edu
Fri Sep 15 12:03:45 EDT 2006
Folks,
Comments, criticisms, commendations please.
Clear skies,
Al
BIWEEKLY CALENDAR OF THE ALMA PROJECT at NRAO
11 September 2006 - 25 September 2006
******************************** THIS FORTNIGHT****************************
The Deadline for payment for attendance at 'Science with ALMA: A new Era
for Astrophysics' November 13-17 in Madrid is Friday September 15th.
Please see:
http://www.oan.es/alma2006/calendar.shtml
http://www.oan.es/alma2006/registration_fee.shtml
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The General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), meeting
in Prague (Czech Republic), has elected the ESO Director General, Dr.
Catherine Cesarsky, as President for a three-year period (2006-2009).
Dr. Cesarsky is the first woman to receive this high
distinction. At the same General Assembly, Dr. Ian Corbett, ESO's Deputy
Director General, was elected Assistant General Secretary for 2006-2009,
with the expectation of becoming General Secretary in 2009-2012.
Both ESO Director General Cesarsky play key roles in ALMA leadership.
Congratulations to Dr. Cesarsky and Dr. Corbett on their election.
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Past issues of this Calendar may be viewed at
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~awootten/mmaimcal/ALMACalendars.html
See also the JAO ALMA Calendar overview at:
http://www.alma.cl/alma_project
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General Happenings
Sky: Jupiter slowly heads for the Sun during these late summer evenings.
Uranus lies at opposition. Pluto has been banished--without fanfare,
the September 7th batch of circulars from the Minor Planet Center assigns
number 134340 to Pluto. If you're keen, it can be spotted these evenings
at magnitude 13.9 near Xi Serpentis.
Santiago: Al Wootten will take over as current JAO interim Project
Scientist. Preparations for approaching significant reviews (Vertex/AEM
P2DRs, Transporter FDR, ACA Correlator).
AOS (Array Ops Site, 16570ft altitude): Completion of design and
engineering of the changed AOS antenna station layout, interconnecting
road system and power and Fiber Optics distribution. The architectural
finishes, mechanical and electrical installations work for the AOS TB is
ongoing.
OSF (Ops Support Facility, 9600ft altitude): VVMO started excavation works
at the OSF and has scheduled to complete those by mid of October. Site
preparations for the Holography Tower and AIV building constructions.
Currently there are approximately 166 persons working at the site of which
approximately 140 uses the ALMA and Contractor’s lodging facilities.
NAASC: Martin Mundnich has arrived in Charlottesville with his family and
will start on Monday, September 11, 2006.
NTC: One transmitter and one receiver were shipped to Socorro and have
been received there.
First 10 pre-production photomixers for Photonic LO have been received in
C’Ville.
Band 7 CDR panel report was prepared and released by System Engineering IPT.
AOC: Design of the second generation on-axis fiber optic cable wrap is
being reviewed.
Walsh function phase switching was inserted at the 1st LO and removed at
the DTS formatter. Spurious signals in the IF signal path were removed as
expected. This successful demonstration completes one of the steps
necessary for moving to the ATF.
ATF: Holography software installed at the ATF. Holography to occur on
VertexRSI antenna, which can be moved.
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DAILY CALENDAR (Times EDT ) see
https://wikio.nrao.edu/bin/view/ALMA/AlmaCalendar
Mon 11 Sep - Patriot's Day, US
Tue 12 Sep
10:30 AM-11:30 AM: JAO IPT Telecon
4:00 PM-5:00 PM: NAScienceIPT teleconference
Wed 13 Sep
Thu 14 Sep
11:00 AM: Astrochemistry Discussion Group, UVa. A. Markwick-Kemper:
Depletion of molecules in pre-protostellar cores
21:30 UT: Board telecon
Fri 15 Sep
Deadline for payment for attendance at 'Science with ALMA: A new Era
for Astrophysics' November 13-17 in Madrid
Sat 16 Sep
All Day: ASAC Meeting, Florence
Sun 17 Sep
All Day: ASAC Meeting, Florence
Mon 18 Sep - Holiday Chile: Independence Day
Holiday Japan: Respect for the Aged Day
All day: Alain Baudry visiting Charlottesville this week.
Tue 19 Sep - Holiday Chile: Post-Independence Day
10:30 AM-11:30 AM: JAO IPT Telecon
Wed 20 Sep
Thu 21 Sep
Fri 22 Sep - New Moon (Annular solar eclipse)
The track of the Moon's antumbral shadow begins in northern South America
and crosses the South Atlantic with no further landfall. A partial eclipse
will be seen from a much larger region including South America, the eastern
Caribbean, western Africa, and Antarctica. From Santiago, the eclipse, of
magnitude 0.15, begins before sunrise, is maximal at 10:46 (with the solar
elevation 2 degrees) and ends at 11:25. From the ALMA site, maximum
magnitude
is about twice as much.
Sat 23 Sep - Holiday Japan: Autumnal Equinox Day
12:03 AM: Autumnal Equinox (Vernal in Chile).
07:00 pm: Dave Matthews Band, Charlottesville JPJ Arena
Sun 24 Sep
Mon 25 Sep
All day: Alain Baudry visiting AOC this week.
****************************** UPCOMING EVENTS ****************************
Sept 27-29 Vertex RSI PPDReview Essen
Sept 29-30 all day ANASAC face-to-face CV
Oct 9 Move of PSI to ATF
Oct 8 - 11 all day WVR Workshop Wettzell, Bavaria
November 8-10 all day ALMA Board Meeting Madrid
Nov 13-16 all day Science with ALMA: a new era for Astrophysics Madrid
******************************* TECHNICAL NEWS ****************************
Evaluation of the ALMA Prototype Antennas
Authors: Jeffrey G. Mangum, Jacob W. M. Baars, Albert Greve, Robert Lucas,
Ralph C. Snel, Patrick Wallace, Mark Holdaway
The ALMA North American and European prototype antennas have been
evaluated by a variety of measurement systems to quantify the major
performance specifications. Nearfield holography was used to set the
reflector surfaces to 17 microns RMS. Pointing and fast switching
performance was determined with an optical telescope and by millimeter
wavelength radiometry, yielding 2 arcsec absolute and 0.6 arcsec offset
pointing accuracies. Path length stability was measured to be less than or
approximately equal to 20 microns over 10 minute time periods using
optical measurement devices. Dynamical performance was studied with a set
of accelerometers, providing data on wind induced tracking errors and
structural deformation. Considering all measurements made during this
evaluation, both prototype antennas meet the major ALMA antenna
performance specifications.
To appear in PASP September 2006 issue
Available on astro-ph as number 0609329
******************************ALSO OF INTEREST*****************************
ALMA PROJECT SCIENTIST
The ALMA Project Scientist is responsible for ensuring that ALMA is
constructed and commissioned in such a manner as to meet the scientific
requirements of the ALMA Agreement. As a Key Staff Member of the JAO, the
Project Scientist will contribute to decision making, overall policy
development and strategic planning. The Project Scientist reports directly
to the ALMA Director and interacts closely with the Project Manager and
Project Engineer.
Please see:
http://www.nrao.edu/administration/personnel_office/careers.shtml#CL0005
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CARMA (Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy)
FIRST CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Deadline: 14 October 2006
Proposals for observations using CARMA at 3 mm in the C and D
configurations (beamsizes 1.8 and 4 arcseconds respectively) during
the period 1 January to 30 June 2007 are due on 14 October 2006.
CARMA is the merger of the Owens Valley Radio Observatory millimeter
array and the Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Association array, and
comprises 15 antennas on a 2200m elevation site, Cedar Flat, in the
Inyo Mountains of California.
CARMA is operated by the Universities of California (Berkeley),
Illinois, and Maryland, and the California Institute of Technology,
under a cooperative agreement with the University Radio Observatory
program of the National Science Foundation. Approximately 30% of the
observing time will be awarded to PIs outside the partner
universities.
Proposals should be submitted using the electronic form at
http://carma.astro.uiuc.edu/proposals/ before 17:00 CDT 14 October,
2006. Detailed information, including sensitivities and proposal
submission instructions, may be found at the CARMA website,
http://www.mmarray.org. Questions may also be addressed to Dr. Douglas
Bock (dbock at mmarray.org).
There will in the future be twice yearly calls for 1 and 3 mm in all
antenna configurations.
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Jansky Fellowship
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) announces the 2007
postdoctoral Jansky Fellowship program that provides outstanding
opportunities for research in astronomy. The Jansky Fellows formulate
and carry out investigations either independently or in collaboration
with others within the wide framework of interests of the Observatory.
Prior radio experience is not required and multi-wavelength projects
leading to a synergy with NRAO instruments are encouraged. The NRAO also
encourages applications from candidates with interest in radio astronomy
instrumentation, computation, and theory.
Please see:
http://www.nrao.edu/administration/directors_office/jansky-postdocs.shtml
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ESO has an opening for European ALMA Project Scientist. Please see:
http://www.eso.org/gen-fac/adm/pers/vacant/alma_project_scientist_2006.html
University of Cambridge
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Research Associate position in Department of Physics University of Cambridge
Radiometric Phase Correction for ALMA
Closing date: 30 September 2006
Limit of tenure: 31 December 2010
The Astrophysics Group of the Department of Physics, University of
Cambridge, invites applications for a postdoctoral research associate
to work on radiometric phase correction techniques, algorithms and
software development for ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimetre Array.
The Group conducts a broad programme of astrophysics research
involving instrumentation, observation, theory and modelling. This
post is funded by the European Union Framework 6 programme and ESO to
further the groupís leading role in the development of phase
correction techniques for ALMA. The work will involve analysis of
existing test data from our 183GHz radiometers, development of novel
algorithms for optimal phase correction, and implementation of these
algorithms within the ALMA software system. In addition, the
postholder may assist with the specification and commissioning of the
ALMA meteorological instruments required to support the radiometer
system.
The appointment will be on the Research Associate scale (currently
£23,457 - £30,607 per annum) at a level determined by skills and
experience. Expenses for travel associated with the project are
provided. The position is available immediately, and we hope the
successful applicant will be able to start in the very near future.
Further information may be obtained from: Mrs Karen Scrivener,
Astrophysics Group, Cavendish Laboratory, J J Thomson Avenue, Cambridge
CB3 0HE, tel: (01223) 337294 (karen at mrao.cam.ac.uk). Informal enquiries
may be made to Dr John Richer (jsr at mrao.cam.ac.uk). Applications should
contain a full CV and list of publications, together with the names and
contact details of two referees, a brief summary of research interests,
and a completed copy of the PD18 Cover Sheet (parts I and III only),
available from http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/personnel/forms/pd18/
The University is committed to equality of opportunity.
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Asian Radio Astronomy Winter School Second Circular
Asian Radio Astronomy Winter School January 22-26, 2007
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan
Registration is open for the Asian Radio Astronomy Winter School.
Please visit the on-line registration page on our web site
(http://vsop.mtk.nao.ac.jp/RAWS2007/), and fill out all items in the
registration form. The deadline for registration *with financial support*
is October 6, 2006.
The final deadline for registration is November 3, 2006.
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Please send information for upcoming calendars by Friday evening of the
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The calendar will be issued between late Friday and sometime on Monday by
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