April 2, 2008: ALMA Articles From April 2008 NRAO Newsletter (pdf)
- ALMA Project Progress - A. Wootten
- The North American ALMA Science Center (NAASC) - C. Carilli
- The ALMA Spectral Line Catalog - A. Remijan
- The Birth and Feedback of Massive Stars, Within and Beyond the Galaxy: The NAASC Science Workshop for 2008
February 15, 2008: ALMA Antenna Transporters
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
January 10, 2008: ALMA Articles From January 2008 NRAO Newsletter (pdf)
- ALMA Project Progress - A. Wootten
- The North American ALMA Science Center (NAASC) - C. Carilli
December 18, 2007: ESO ALMA Newsletter (14th edition)
Contents:- The ALMA Regional Centre Nodes
- ALMA and Joint ALMA Office people
- Open Positions
- Report on ARC discussion at the ALMA Community Days
- The new ALMA building in Garching
- Upcoming events
December 14, 2007: ALMA VertexRSI unit-2
The second VertexRSI antenna is shown in the Site Erection Facility.
This antenna's major assembly occurred in November; the antenna parts had arrived in Chilean ports in September. The third VertexRSI pedestal arrived in Mejillones, the port for Antofagasta Chile on December 8. The upper 'inverted umbrella' portion which supports the accurately machined surface is expected in port on December 23. This is the third antenna delivered to Chile by VertexRSI under contract with NRAO/AUI. It joins three antennas delivered by Mitsubishi Electric Company (Melco) of Japan; the fourth Melco antenna also arrived in port last week. At the close of 2007, seven ALMA telescopes have been delivered to Chile, about one tenth of the total. Assembly and testing of these telescopes continues at the Operations Support Facility.
(Note: To see a larger view, move your mouse over the image)
December 13, 2007: ALMA VertexRSI unit-1
The high performance VertexRSI unit-1 antenna underwent fast motion demonstrations for the ALMA Board on October 31, 2007 at the ALMA Operations Support Facility in Chile. The antenna will soon be undergoing surface tests using an ALMA holography system and pointing tests using the ALMA Optical Pointing Telescope. During the demonstration, holographic tests were underway on the Mitsubishi Electric Company 12m antenna, which can be seen in the background (left center). North American ALMA Project Scientist Al Wootten (in hard hat) watched while Instrument Scientist Darrel Emerson (not shown) worked with the holography system. Five ALMA 12m antennas are now assembled in Chile and parts for an additional two have arrived in Chilean ports.
(Note: To see a larger view, move your mouse over the image)
November 13, 2007: Melco Antennas
A view from the holography tower of the Melco antenna assembly area, with its three assembled 12m antennas.
(Note: To see a larger view, move your mouse
over the image)
October 10, 2007: ALMA Articles From October 2007 NRAO Newsletter (pdf)
- ALMA Project Progress - A. Wootten
- The North American ALMA Science Center (NAASC) - C. Carilli
Aug 6, 2007: ESO ALMA Newsletter (13th edition)
- First ALMA transporter ready to go
- The ALMA Regional Centre Nodes
- Construction Progress
- LABOCA Operational at APEX
- ALMA and Joint ALMA Office people
- Upcoming events
August 1, 2007: ALMA Transporter in News
The first ALMA transporter passes its initial operational tests.
- Read the on-line BBC story
- Read the ESO Press Release
- Read the NRAO Press Release
July 25, 2007: ALMA Articles From July 2007 NRAO Newsletter (pdf)
- ALMA Construction Project Progress - A. Wootten & S. Cabezon
- The North American ALMA Science Center (NAASC) - C. Carilli
- Second Annual North American ALMA Science Center Workshop - C. Brogan
June 21, 2007: Canadian ALMA News
From Cassiopeia, a pulication of CASCA. Contents:
- Construction Progress
- ALMA Science Advisory Committee
- Canadian ALMA Science Advisory Committee
- Upcoming Science Meetings
- Band 3 Receiver Development
- Software Development
April 30, 2007: ALMA Articles From April 2007 NRAO Newsletter (pdf)
- ALMA Achieves Field Interferometry - A. Wootten
- ALMA Achieves Major Mileston with Antenna-Link Success - D. Finley
- Second NAASC ALMA Science Workshop: Transformational Science with ALMA: Through Disks to Stars and Planets - C. Brogan
- The North American ALMA Science Center (NAASC) - C. Carilli
April 15, 2007: ESO ALMA Newsletter (12th edition)
Contents:- Construction Progress
- ALMA Regional Centre Nodes
- ALMA Meetings in Garching
- ALMA and Joint ALMA Office people
- Upcoming events
March 07, 2007: ALMA Achieves Major Milestone With Antenna-Link Success
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) reached a major milestone on March 2, when two ALMA prototype antennas were first linked together as an integrated system to observe an astronomical object.
The milestone achievement, technically termed "First Fringes," came at the ALMA Test Facility (ATF) on the grounds of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's (NRAO) Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope in New Mexico.
Faint radio waves emitted by the planet Saturn were collected by the two ALMA antennas, then processed by new, state-of-the-art electronics to turn the two antennas into a single, high-resolution telescope system, called an interferometer.The successful Saturn observation began at 7:13 p.m., U.S. Mountain Time Friday (0213 UTC Saturday). The planet's radio emissions at a frequency of 104 GigaHertz (GHz) were tracked by the ALMA system for more than an hour.
Read the NRAO Press Release
Mar 2, 2007: ESO ALMA Newsletter (11th edition)
- Operations Support Facility
- ALMA and Joint ALMA Office people
- Antenna Transporter
- ALMA Project Scientist and Deputy appointed
- ALMA Science meeting in Madrid
- Upcoming events
Jan 31, 2007: Recent Progress at the ALMA site - NSF Visit.
Members of the NSF panel that is reviewing the NAASC/ALMA operations plan visited the JAO office in Santiago, and the ALMA site in San Pedro. They were accompanied by Chris Carilli from the NAASC, and three representatives from the NSF. The committee was impressed by both the scale of the project, and the very high level of activity in Chile.
The JAO office is always busy, with local staff and international visitors. Construction at the OSF is in full-swing, with much of the back-up structure for the main operations support buildings, as well as for the Vertex antenna building, being completed. Concrete has been poured in a number of the antenna pads at the OSF. A medical staff is also present at the OSF. The road to the site is complete, with long term plans to pave the part from the OSF to San Pedro. Construction on the control building at the AOS is well evolved, with the outer shell of the building complete, and many of the interior walls. The committee visited the APEX telescope, and APEX support facility in Sequitor.
They also visited Cerro Chico, and drove to the center of the array. The highlight of the trip was the spectacular view of Comet McNaught from outside of San Pedro (photo from the OSF above).
January 30, 2007: NRAOnewsApr07_alma ALMA Project Progress Report From January 2007 NRAO Newsletter old link
- Second NAASC ALMA Science Workshop: Transformational Science with ALMA: Through Disks to Stars and Planets - C. Brogan
- The North American ALMA Science Center (NAASC) - C. Carilli
- ALMA Lab Testing Moves to the Field - A. Wootten
- Transitions - A. Wootten
- The ALMA Working Group on Spectral Line Frequencies and the Molecular Spectroscopy Database (Splatalogue) - A. Remijan