[mmaimcal] FYI: 11 Feb - 25 Feb BIWEEKLY CALENDAR OF THE ALMA PROJECT at NRAO

[Al Wootten]

Folks,

Comments, contributions, calisthentics?

Al
                 BIWEEKLY CALENDAR OF THE ALMA PROJECT at NRAO
                          11 Feb - 25 Feb 2008

******************************** THIS FORTNIGHT************************* 
"Most of the photons in the Universe are in the wavelength range that 
ALMA will receive, and ALMA will give us our first high-resolution views 
at these wavelengths. This will be a tremendous advancement for astronomy 
and open one of our science's last frontiers," Anneila Sargent, a Caltech 
professor and ALMA Board member, told the American Association for the 
Advancement of Science at its meeting in Boston, Mass in a session on 
Large-Scale International Collaborations and the Future of Physics held
15 Feb.  A new 15-minute video overview of ALMA science and technology
also debuted at the meeting; it will be available soon on the NRAO website.
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On 2008 February 21 the Science and Technology Facility Council's
UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC) at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh
shipped its biggest and most complex ever instrument. The giant camera
known as SCUBA-2 will be transported to the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
(JCMT) on top of a 14,000 foot mountain in Hawaii where it is expected to
make major discoveries related to the origins of galaxies, stars and
planets.  ALMA will provide higher sensitivity, higher resolution images
of objects which appear only as fuzzy blobs in SCUBA-2 images.
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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: A Total Eclipse of the Moon occurred 

SCO:  A Call for Tender for securing power from the Chilean grid for ALMA
was released.  

AOS (Array Ops Site, 16570ft altitude): Preliminary antenna foundation 
works continue.  The ASAC visited the site and the OSF.

OSF (Ops Support Facility, 9600ft altitude): Antenna foundations have been
built at the AEM antenna contractor laydown area.  An Optical Pointing
Telescope was installed on ACA 12m antenna No 2 and a pointing model
established.  Main reflector panels being installed on ACA 12m antenna No 4.

AOC/ATF: Performance of the receivers was improved; observations over the 
4-12 GHz IF enabled observations to be made of the Orion SiO maser
with the Vertex antenna; issues remain with the other receiver. 
The remaining Optical Pointing Telescope was shipped to the OSF.

NTC (NRAO Technology Center):  Provisional acceptance In-house (PAI) 
for Band 6 (1.3mm) cartridge SN004 was held on 30 Jan 2008 and it will 
ship to the East Asian Front End Integration Center (EA FEIC) in Taiwan 
Feb 19.  Construction of the second holography receiver will begin 25 Feb.
PAI for the 2-antenna correlator destined for the OSF was held Jan 31. 
The correlator left the lab to be packaged for shipping Feb 1 and is 
scheduled for shipping from Richmond to Chile on Feb 11.

ASIAA: Outfitting of the EA FEIC continues.

NAASC:
A calendar of NAASC events may be found at:
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/naasc/calendar/calendar.php
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DAILY CALENDAR (Times EDT/EST ) see
https://wikio.nrao.edu/bin/view/ALMA/AlmaCalendar
This feature is being discontinued, based on feedback.  Only important
dates will be featured in the future.
****************************** UPCOMING EVENTS *************************
   Feb 18-23     IAU Symp 251: Organic Chemistry in Space Hong Kong
   Feb 26-7                 Band 10 PDR                     Mitaka
   Mar 14                   ANASAC Telecon                  --
   Mar 26-9      The Cosmic Agitator - B Fields in the Galaxy  U. Ky
******************************* TECHNICAL NEWS *************************
Memo # 575 has been approved and posted.
Title: Flux Concentration During Solar Observation For Alma Antennas
Authors: Fred Schwab and Jingquan Cheng

Abstract: This memo describes the calculation of the incident heat flux 
on the subreflector surface of an ALMA antenna when the bidirectional 
reflectance distribution function (BRDF) of the main reflector panels is 
known. Theory and related formulae are provided for the calculation. A 
convolutional approach is used in this memo. When the FWHM of the 
bidirectional scattering distribution function (BSDF) of the primary 
panel surface is large, the flux on the subreflector during solar 
observation is relatively small. The memo provides the flux numbers and 
the flux intensity on the subreflector.

View a pdf version of ALMA Memo #575:
http://www.alma.nrao.edu/memos/html-memos/alma575/memo575.pdf
*****************************ALSO OF INTEREST***************************
The Allen Telescope Array is accepting proposals from the general user
community for the second half of 2008.  Proposals are due April 18, 2008 
at 5pm PDT.
A full set of instrument parameters and proposal forms is available at
http://ral.berkeley.edu/ata/Proposal/Proposals.html
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The deadline for submission of observing proposals on IRAM telescopes, 
both the interferometer and the 30m, is 13 March 2008, 17:00 MET 
(UT + 1 hour). The scheduling period extends from 1 June 2008 to 30 
November 2008. Proposals should be submitted through our web-based 
submission facility. Instructions can be found on our web page at URL:
http://www.iram.fr/GENERAL/submission/submission.html 
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CARMA Call for Proposals.  Proposals for observations using CARMA during 
the period 1 July to 31 December 2008 are due on 13 March 2008. CARMA 
comprises 15 antennas operating at 1mm and 3mm on a 2200m elevation 
site, Cedar Flat, in the Inyo Mountains of California. Proposals will 
be accepted for the B, C, D, and E antenna configurations. These 
configurations have resolution 0.35", 0.8", 2", 5" at 230 GHz. 
http://www.mmarray.org/
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SMA Call for Proposals.  Following the direction of the SMA steering 
committee, the CfA SMA Time Allocation Committee (TAC) solicits proposals 
for observations in the 230, 345, 400, and 690 GHz bands for the period 
2008 May 16 - 2008 Nov 15. The deadline for submitting proposals is 2008 
March 13 (16:00 EDT = 10:00 HST). In addition, large (legacy) proposals 
must be preceded by a brief "Notice of Intent" by 2008 March 6, 15:00 EST.
http://sma1.sma.hawaii.edu/call.html
CARMA Call for Proposals. 
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Please send information for upcoming calendars by Friday evening of the
preceding biweekly period to Jennifer Neighbours or Al Wootten via e-mail
(jneighbo at nrao.edu or awootten at nrao.edu).

The calendar will be issued between late Friday and sometime on Monday
by e-mail to all NRAO scientific staff members and anyone else interested.
A specific mailing list, alma-info, has been created for anyone wishing
to receive it.
Past issues are available at
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~awootten/mmaimcal/ALMACalendars.html