[mmaimcal] FYI: 5-19 Nov BIWEEKLY CALENDAR OF THE ALMA PROJECT at NRAO
Al Wootten
awootten at nrao.edu
Fri Dec 7 15:15:18 EST 2007
Folks,
Comments, contributions, corrections?
Happy weekend,
Al
BIWEEKLY CALENDAR OF THE ALMA PROJECT at NRAO
5 November 2007 - 19 November 2007
******************************** THIS FORTNIGHT*************************
Announcement from the ALMA Board
At its meeting on the 30th and 31st October, the ALMA Board agreed not
to extend the appointment of the current Director, Massimo Tarenghi,
beyond the 31st March 2008 on completion of five years in the post. The
Board thanks Massimo for the many contributions he has made to the
project and wishes him well for the future. Without his energy and
enthusiasm for ALMA, the outstanding achievements of the project to date
would have been far more difficult to achieve.
The Board will initiate a search for a new Director in the very near future.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
>From this observer's perspective, Massimo's, whose indefatigable embrace
of all things ALMA has certainly sparked my own enthusiasm.
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Please be informed that the strike affecting the Chilean Customs and
Ministry of Foreign Affairs finished 22 Nov night. No ALMA shipment has
been affected by this event.
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An Earthquake of magnitude 7.7 struck northeast of Antafagasta on
the morning of 14 November; no damage was reported at the ALMA site.
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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
Photos of activity may be found at:
http://www.alma.nrao.edu/almanews/almagallery/index.html
Sky: Mars is near opposition.
SCO (Santiago Central Office): Richard Hills has relocated to Santiago to
take up Project Scientist duties. A final report from the ALMA Annual External
Review Committee was received. A Production Workshop will be held in
Charlottesville 13-15 November. Planning for moving some personnel to the
adjacent Alsacia building is in the final stages. Brian Hoff (ME), Masato
Ishiguro (Scientist) and Lewis Knee (Scientist) started work in AIV last
week.
AOS (Array Ops Site, 16570ft altitude): ESO Finance Council approved
signing of a contract to construct the antenna foundations at the AOS; the
contract was signed. A preliminary description of the present design of
the extended array is available at
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~awootten/mmaimcal/2007-Nov-20Holdawaywriteup.pdf.
AOS Technical Building oxygen generation, UPS power and electrical
installations have been tested and approved. Construction of the Transporter
Hangar continues.
OSF (Ops Support Facility, 9600ft altitude): There are 449 people
working at the ALMA site. Construction of stages 3 and 4 of the ALMA Camp
extension has commenced. Work continues on a sixth antenna pad at the
VertexRSI Site Erection Facility (SEF) and on five pads at the
Alcatel/EIE/Mann SEF. Work on the Technical Buildings continues on schedule.
A Virtual Reality view from 2007 Oct 31 may be viewed at
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~awootten/mmaimcal/OSF31Oct2007vra.mov
Holography testing of the first antenna of the Mitsubishi Electric Co.
(MElCo) continues (three are on site); optical pointing has established
a pointing model. Mounting of the backup structure of the second VertexRSI
antenna to the mount structure is scheduled to occur. Pedestal components
for VertexRSI antenna No 3 should ship before Thanksgiving. MElCo antenna
number four shipped for Chile from Japan at 2007 Oct 30 6am. The Atacama
Compact Array Correlator arrived in Chile 2007 Oct 30.
ATF: Repair of the Vertex prototype antenna quadripod structure was
accomplished. During repair, activities centered on improving pointing
model for the AEM antenna.
NTC (NRAO Technology Center): A beam pointing hysteresis effect was
tentatively traced to loose screws in the beam scanner. The first 6
Fiber Stretcher Assemblies (FSA) used in the Photonic LO Line Length
Corrector (LLC) have arrived in Charlottesville and will now undergo
acceptance testing. The new 2-antenna correlator (destined for the OSF)
is on schedule. Installation of all fans, panels, and permanent wiring is
finished. PAI of Tunable Filter Board cards required for the 2nd Quadrant
of the Correlator successfully passed.
HIA: PAI (Provisional Acceptance In-House) review meeting for the fifth
Band 3 cold cartridge assembly (SN04) was held on Oct 24.
NAASC: A new electronic ALMA Newsletter was distributed by NAASC.
CASA software in Limited Beta Release.
A calendar of NAASC events may be found at:
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/naasc/calendar/calendar.php
***************************************************************************
DAILY CALENDAR (Times EDT/EST ) see
https://wikio.nrao.edu/bin/view/ALMA/AlmaCalendar
Sun 4 Nov -
Mon 5 Nov -
4:00PM: ATF telecon
Tue 6 Nov -
10:30AM: JAO/IPT telecon
Wed 7 Nov -
Thu 8 Nov -
Fri 9 Nov -
Sat 10 Nov -
Sun 11 Nov -
Mon 12 Nov - Veteran's Day Holiday (NRAO)
Tue 13 Nov - ALMA Production Workshop, CV
Wed 14 Nov - ALMA Production Workshop, CV
EPO Working Group Meeting, SCO
Thu 15 Nov - ALMA Production Workshop, CV
EPO Working Group Meeting, SCO
Fri 16 Nov - EPO Working Group Meeting, SCO
Sat 17 Nov -
Sun 18 Nov -
Mon 19 Nov -
4:00PM: ATF telecon
****************************** UPCOMING EVENTS *************************
Nov 1-2 AMAC Review San Pedro
Nov 13-15 Production Workshop Cville-ER
Dec 6 Front End Test Readiness Revies Cville NTC
Jan 23-24 Nutator CDR ASIAA
******************************* TECHNICAL NEWS *************************
Memo # 573 has been approved and posted.
Title: Limits on Phase Correction Performance Due to Differences Between
Astronomical and Water-Vapour Radiometer Beams
Authors: B. Nikolic, R. E. Hills and J. S. Richer
Using high-resolution three-dimensional realisations of turbulent fields,
we investigate the limits on achievable performance of atmospheric phase
correction using water-vapour radiometers arising from following effects:
the incoherent measurement of power from water by the radiometers (in
contrast to coherent detection of the astronomical signal); the different
tapers of the response patterns of the astronomical and radiometer receivers;
and, the differences in the directions of the radiometer and astronomical
beams. We quantify the limit on performance as the fraction of atmospheric
phase fluctuations that is not tracked by the radiometers. We find that,
for parameters relevant for ALMA, the performance in high-frequency bands
will be limited in approximately equal parts by the two effects, i.e.,
the differences due the incoherent vs coherent processes measured by the
two receivers, together with their different tapers, and the angular
displacements of the beams. For the lower frequency bands, the angular
displacements of the beams becomes the dominant source of error.
View a pdf version of ALMA Memo #573 at:
http://www.alma.nrao.edu/memos/html-memos/alma573/memo573.pdf
*****************************ALSO OF INTEREST***************************
The Cosmic Agitator - Magnetic Fields in the Galaxy
60 years of studies of the interstellar magnetic field
2008 March 26-29
Lexington. The magnetic field of the galaxy was discovered in observations
made in 1948. Since that time, the galactic magnetic field has challenged
(and often annoyed) observers and theorists alike. This meeting will
celebrate sixty years of studies of the interstellar magnetic field, a field
ALMA's transformational capabilities will revolutionize. See
http://thunder.pa.uky.edu/magnetic/
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Tenure Track Astronomers REQ NO: CV3631
SUMMARY: The National Radio
Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) invites outstanding applicants for one or
more tenure-track astronomer positions, especially in the areas of time-domain
astronomy, solar system research, exo-planets, Epoch of Re-ionization,
structure formation, Dark Energy and Dark Matter. Candidates will be
selected on both the basis of excellence in research and on their ability
to further the mission of the Observatory.
URL below.
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Assistant Scientist (CASA) REQ NO: CV3682
SUMMARY: The National Radio
Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) invites applications for an astronomer, software
engineer, or physicist with experience in astronomical data processing to
develop data reduction software for the Atacama Millimeter/submillimeter
Array (ALMA) and the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA). The Common Astronomy
Software Applications (CASA) package is written primarily in C++ under a
Python wrapper (for more information on CASA, see http://casa.nrao.edu/).
This is an NRAO Scientist position, with 25% of time available to pursue
independent research. The position will be based in Charlottesville,
Virginia, USA, at the North American ALMA Science Center (NAASC).
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Jansky fellows (2008) REQ NO: CV3455
SUMMARY: The National Radio
Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) announces the 2008 postdoctoral Jansky
Fellowship program that provides outstanding opportunities for research
in astronomy. 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.
See URL below.
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Jobs for scientists interested in working on the commissioning of ALMA
are available at both ESO and NRAO.
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory invites applications for an
ALMA Commissioning Scientist position. This position is assigned to the
ALMA project with operational duties in Chile. The role of the ALMA
Commissioning Scientist will be to assist the Project Scientist and the
Deputy Project Scientist in planning and executing the scientific
commissioning of ALMA.
We invite applications for one or more Assistant Scientist positions in
the NAASC. The primary responsibility of the successful candidates
initially is to participate in ALMA Commissioning and Science
Verification (CSV).
http://www.nrao.edu/administration/personnel_office/careers.shtml
For ESO jobs please see:
https://jobs.eso.org/ESOCP370/default.asp?PageNo=DEFAULT
For ALMA jobs please see:
http://www.alma.cl/jobops/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Applications are invited for Submillimeter Array (SMA) Postdoctoral
Fellowships starting in fall 2008. These positions are aimed chiefly at
research in submillimeter astronomy, and the successful candidates are
expected to propose and participate in science observations with the SMA.
See http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/opportunities/fellowships/sma/
Please direct questions to smapostdoc at cfa.harvard.edu.
Online applications are due December 15, 2007.
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Please send information for upcoming calendars by Friday evening of the
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(jneighbo at nrao.edu or awootten at nrao.edu).
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