[mmaimcal] FYI: 5 May-18 May 2008 BIWEEKLY CALENDAR OF THE ALMA PROJECT at NRAO
Al Wootten
awootten at nrao.edu
Mon May 19 18:15:38 EDT 2008
Folks,
Folks,
Comments, contributions or corrections? The Memo has not been moved
yet, I think, to www.alma.nrao.edu
Clear skies,
Al
BIWEEKLY CALENDAR OF THE ALMA PROJECT at NRAO
5 May 2008 - 19 May 2008
******************************** THIS FORTNIGHT*************************
ALMA Project Manager Tony Beasley leaves ALMA this period; Interim
Project Manager Tetsuo Hasegawa takes the myriad reins in hand.
Tony has led ALMA capably from its early days in Chile
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NRAO sadly reported the death on 10 May, 2008 in Charlottesville, Virginia
of Dr. Barry E. Turner, who was a member of its scientific staff from
1967 until 2006. In an era of increasingly large collaborations, Barry's
career was marked by an exceptional number of one and two-author
publications. During his career he was instrumental in the discovery of
ten per cent of the interstellar molecules now known. His thesis dealt
with the excitation of the OH molecule, whose discovery in 1963 kindled
this astronomer's astronomical interests. With his passing, ALMA loses
a champion.
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This month in ALMA past: In May 2002 the Vertex prototype antenna was
delivered to the ALMA Test Facility in New Mexico, where it continues
service. In May 2004, the AEC prototype antenna made its first
image, of a planet, at the ATF, where it also continues service.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Past issues of this Calendar may be viewed at
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~awootten/mmaimcal/ALMACalendars.html
***************************************************************************
General Happenings
Photos of activity may be found at:
http://www.alma.nrao.edu/almanews/almagallery/index.html
Sky: Late in the month, Mercury puts on a good show in the evening sky.
On May 22, Mars will traverse the Beehive cluster. Before dawn on
June 30, the crescent moon passes through the Pleiades, best seen from
North America. Mars and Saturn are nighttime objects, Jupiter is in Sagittarius
and Venus in Aries. Full moon is on 19 May.
SCO: Management IPT meeting occurred in Charlottesville. The closing date
for bids on the new building was further extended.
AOS (Array Ops Site, 16570ft altitude):
Grading of the Central Cluster area should be completed in May. Operations
and Safety personnel completed training on the use of the fire detection and
extinguishing system in the Technical Building.
OSF (Ops Support Facility, 9600ft altitude): Provisional acceptance for the
ALMA Camp Extension was given 21 April, finishing this project. Exterior
lights and walks are complete. A total of 130 beds are now available.
Vx Antenna No 1 informal pointing tests are continuing nightly with AIV
support. Vx No2 and No3 will undergo photogrammetry 14-22 May. Antenna
No 4 panels are being installed along with other work. Vx Antenna No 5
pedestal and BUS are en route to Chile. Transporters continuing toward
acceptance expected later in the month. Provisional acceptance Site of
Front End No 1 is scheduled during this period.
AOC: BE personnel have returned to Socorro after a successful AA #1 delivery
to the AIV Interim Lab.
ATF: Four pre-production IF Processors are in use at the ATF, with firmware
identical to that of the production IF Processors. First interferometric
pointing results by TelCal were demonstrated at the ATF. Interferometric
phase calibrations and pointing calibration with TelCal reduction and
QuickLook display is now working. On 17 May, a critical brake failure on
the AEC antenna halted operations for an undetermined period. The Orion
Spectrum mentioned in a previous version of this eNews may be viewed at:
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~awootten/mmaimcal/OriLabeled.jpg
NTC (NRAO Technology Center): The second quadrant of the correlator is
completely assembled except for the Data Port Interface installation;
handover to the Computing IPT for systems verification will be in about
1 month.
EU: Elements of the Amplitude Calibration Device, calibration wheels and
two hot loads have been received by ESO and the integration of the first
prototype is progressing well.
NAOJ: K. Tatematsu stepped down as NAOJ CIPT manager effective 1 May, replaced
by G. Kosugi. Thanks for a job well done, Ken!
NAASC: A face-to-face meeting of ALMA Operations personnel occurred
this period in Santiago.
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
****************************** UPCOMING EVENTS *************************
May 5 WVR review Gothenburg
May 5-6 ESO FC meeting Garching
May 5-9 Molecular Universe meeting Bordeaux
May 16 ALMA Board Telecon
May 21 ASAC Telecon
May 23 2pm ANASAC Telecon
May 28-29 1st LO and WCA Manufacturing Readiness Review Charlottesville
June 2-5 AAS Meeting St. Louis
******************************* TECHNICAL NEWS *************************
Memo # 533 Title: Improving Accuracy of Superconducting Microstrip Line
Modelling at Millimetre and Sub-Millimetre Waves
Authors: Victor Belitsky, Christophe Risacher, Miroslav Pantaleev,
Vessen Vassilev
Abstract:
This paper presents a new model to calculate the characteristic impedance
and wave propagation constant of a microstrip line made of a superconducting
material. Modelling provides the only tool for designing superconducting
microstrip - based circuits because no direct measurements of such a line
can be made at millimetre and sub-millimetre waves and at cryogenic
temperature of 4 K with required high accuracy. In contrast to a
conventional microstrip, in the superconducting microstrip line, produced
usually by a thin-film technology, the magnetic field penetration depth is
comparable with the thicknesses of the dielectric and the superconductors
comprising the line. As a result, the electromagnetic wave is propagating
not only in the dielectric media but also partly inside the superconducting
strip and ground electrodes creating dramatic changes in the line
performance that should be carefully accounted for by including the
superconductor material properties into the model. Niobium, as the most
commonly exploited superconducting material, was used for the modelling,
though the same approach would work for any different BCS superconductor.
In order to evaluate the proposed model accuracy, we have made an extensive
comparison study of the previously presented models and included 3D
numerical electromagnetic simulation. The modelling covers different
geometries of the superconducting microstrip line and address material
dispersion.
View a pdf version of ALMA Memo #533 at:
http://www.alma.nrao.edu/memos/html-memos/alma533/memo533.pdf
*****************************ALSO OF INTEREST***************************
Registration is now open for "Transformational Science with ALMA:
The Birth and Feedback of Massive Stars, Within and Beyond the Galaxy"
A workshop to be held at the North American ALMA Science Center
National Radio Astronomy Observatory Charlottesville, Virginia
September 25-27 2008
Please see: http://www.cv.nrao.edu/php/meetings/massive08/
Abstract submission is now closed.
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A small workshop will be held at IRAM, Grenoble September 8 2008 on
the topic of simulations of ALMA imaging. The goals are
1) To bring together the radio astronomy community with expertise in
simulations of ALMA data to share experiences, ideas and code
2) To illustrate the power of ALMA in a small number of scientific
fields through the presentation of simulations of ALMA science
targets
3) To assess how simulations can be used to optimise the performance
of ALMA once it is operational, by, for example, suggesting the
optimal calibration strategies and observing modes
The workshop web-page is:
http://www.mrao.cam.ac.uk/~bn204/almasim08/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Proposals for observing time on the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory
on Mauna Kea for the semester 1st September -31st Jan 2009 should be sent
by 31st May 2008 to T. G. Phillips, Caltech 320-47, Pasadena, CA 91125.
For further information please refer to the CSO web site at
http://www.submm.caltech.edu/cso.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The deadline for proposals to use NRAO telescopes (GBT, VLA, VLBA) is
1700 EDT Monday, 2 June 2008.
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The Eleventh Synthesis Imaging Workshop will take place from June 10
through June 17 of 2008 in Socorro, NM. The school will comprise a week
of lectures on aperture synthesis theory and techniques at a level
appropriate for graduate students in astrophysics. Basic lectures on
synthesis imaging, and advanced lectures on more specialized techniques,
will be included. Practical tutorials demonstrating data collection,
calibration and imaging of both VLA and VLBA data will be given. There
will be a nominal registration fee, which will cover the cost of the
meeting and a copy of ASP Vol. 180, "Synthesis Imaging in Radio
Astronomy II", from the 1998 summer school. Please visit:
http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/events/synthesis/2008/
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