* Astronomy

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RE: Atacama Large Millimeter Array

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Alma telescope: Ribbon cut on astronomical giant

The ambition of astronomical project Alma, the largest-ever international radio telescope venture, is no small feat.
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ALMA's breakthrough in measuring up stellar nurseries

Astronomers have made a breakthrough in understanding the chemistry of the Universe thanks to the tremendous power of the European Southern Observatory's revolutionary ALMA telescope in Chile's Atacama Desert.
By combining the capabilities of the array of dishes 5,000 metres above sea level with newly-developed lab techniques, the scientists have begun what they are heralding as a new era in deciphering interstellar elements.
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At the End of the Earth, Seeking Clues to the Universe

Opened last October, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, known as ALMA, will have spread 66 radio antennas near the spine of the Andes by the time it is completed next year. Drawing more than $1 billion in funding mainly from the United States, European countries and Japan, ALMA will help the oxygen-deprived scientists flocking to this region to study the origins of the universe.
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Alma telescope begins study of cosmic dawn

One of the 21st Century's grand scientific undertakings has begun its quest to view the "Cosmic Dawn".
The Atacama large milllimetre/submillimetre array (Alma) in Chile is the largest, most complex telescope ever built.
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ALMA Opens Its Eyes

Humanity's most complex ground-based astronomy observatory, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), has officially opened for astronomers. The first released image, from a telescope still under construction, reveals a view of the Universe that cannot be seen at all by visible-light and infrared telescopes. Thousands of scientists from around the world have competed to be among the first few researchers to explore some of the darkest, coldest, furthest, and most hidden secrets of the cosmos with this new astronomical tool.
At present, around a third of ALMA's eventual 66 radio antennas, with separations up to only 125 metres rather than the maximum 16 kilometres, make up the growing array on the Chajnantor plateau in northern Chile, at an elevation of 5000 metres. And yet, even under construction, ALMA has become the best telescope of its kind - as reflected by the extraordinary number of astronomers who requested time to observe with ALMA.
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World's most powerful radio telescope up close

The world's most powerful radio telescope has begun scientific operation.
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Imaging Cosmic Dawn (ALMA)

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Virtual press conference on start of ALMA operations

Together with its international partners from North America and East Asia (NRAO and NAOJ), and with the Joint ALMA Observatory in Chile, ESO is inviting media to an online press conference on Monday 3 October 2011 at 10:30 CEST (08:30 UT).
Early Science observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the largest ground-based astronomical project in existence, are planned to start over the weekend.
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Title: The ALMA Observation Support Tool
Authors: I. Heywood, A. Avison, C.J. Williams

The ALMA Observation Support Tool (OST) is an ALMA simulator which is interacted with solely via a standard web browser. It is aimed at users who may or may not be experts in interferometry, or those that do not wish to familiarise themselves with the simulation components of a data reduction package. It has been designed to offer full imaging simulation capability for an arbitrary ALMA observation while maintaining the accessibility of other online tools such as the ALMA Sensitivity Calculator. Simulation jobs are defined by selecting and entering options on a standard web form. The user can specify the standard parameters that would need to be considered for an ALMA observation (e.g. pointing direction, frequency set up, duration), and there is also the option to upload arbitrary sky models in FITS format. Once submitted, jobs are sequentially processed by a remote server running a CASA-based back-end system. The user is notified by email when the job is complete, and directed to a standard web page which contains the results of the simulation and a range of downloadable data products. The system is currently hosted by the UK ALMA Regional Centre, and can be accessed by directing a web browser to this http URL

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