The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array

Stefanie MühleGerman ARC nodeUniversity of Bonn

What is ALMA?Current statusScience Verification and Early Science resultsALMA operations: from a proposal to imagesNeed help? The ALMA support structure

What is ALMA?ALMA = Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array

ALMA is an interferometer for millimeter and submillimeter astronomy

The main scientific objectives are the origins of galaxies and the origins of stars and planets

ALMA will be 10-100 times more sensitive and have 10-100 times better angular resolution than existing instruments

ALMA is built and operated by Europe (ESO), North-America (NRAO) and East-Asia (NAOJ)

ALMA is still under construction/commissioning while already observing (Early Science)

ALMA main array + Atacama Compact Array

50 ×12m

4×12m + 12×7m

LocationChajnantor plain (5000 m, AOS), Atacama desert, Northern Chile

Latitude = -23 degrees

air pressureat sea level: 1013 mbarat 2900m: 750 mbarat 5000m: 550 mbar

Array Operations Site (AOS) at 5000m

Operations Support Facility (OSF) at 2900m

Location

ALMA bands and transparency

3 6 7 94 85 10

Cycle 0 and Cycle 1

new in Cycle 2

under Construction

Frequency (GHz)

pwv = 0.5mm

Interferometry = many small dishes …

… together as one!

most compact configuration(max. 150m): 0.5” … 5”

ALMA’s configurations

most extended configuration (max. 16km):0.005” … 0.05”

Cycle 0 configurations:August 2012:

ALMA’s configurations

September 2011:

since Cycle 1: expanding and contracting

ALMA in Full Science Mode

The Atacama Compact Array

frequency angular resolution

angular resolution

max. angular scale

max. angular scale with

ACAextended (C1) compact (C1) compact (C1)

Band 3 -100 GHz 0.57” 3.7” 25” 44”

Band 6 -230 GHz 0.25” 1.6” 11’’ 19”

Band 7 -345 GHz 0.16” 1.1” 7.1” 13”

Band 9 -675 GHz 0.08” 0.55” 3.6” 6.5”

a.k.a. the “Morita Array”effect of including the ACA:

The Atacama Compact Array

CO(1-0) in M100, placed at z=0.05 and observed for 8 hoursleft: only main array (most extended configuration), right: including the ACA

ALMA in comparison: resolution

ALMA in comparison: sensitivity

Circles show collecting area (sensitivity)

Improvement in sensitivity:10-100xspatial resolution:10-100xbandwidth:~2x

ALMA parameters (Full Science)50 12-m antennas (main array)

12 7-m antennas + 4 12-m single dishes (ACA)

Baselines up to 16 km (5 mas at 650 GHz) in “zoom lens” configurations

Full coverage of all atmospheric bands up to 1 THzState-of-the-art low-noise, wide-band receivers (8 GHz bandwidth)

Flexible correlator with high spectral resolution at wide bandwidth

Full polarization capabilities

A resource for ALL astronomers!

ALMA ScienceALMA Science Drivers

detect line emission from CO or CII in a Milky Way type galaxy at z = 3, in 24 hoursimage the gas kinematics in protostars and protoplanetary disks around young Sun-like stars at a distance of 150 pcprovide precise images at an angular resolution of 0.1 arcsec

other fields of research includestar formation, protoplanets in nearby disksastrochemistryinterstellar medium (Galaxy, Local Group)high-redshift deep fields

What is ALMA?Current statusScience Verification and Early Science resultsALMA operations: from a proposal to imagesNeed help? The ALMA support structure

Antenna construction

The ALMA Operations Support Facility (OSF)

Antenna construction

Antenna vendors construct and test the telescopes (here: Europeanantennas)

Assembly, Integration and Verification

Commissioning and Science Verification

Early Science observations started on 30 Sep. 2011, 18 months before ALMA’s official inauguration!

done with (a subset of) the existing array

proposals solicited from the astronomical community

projects done on a “best effort” basis

alternately construction/commissioning and science

construction and commissioning have priority!

Early Science operations continue until array with all antennas and all observing modes commissioned

ALMA Early Science

30 Sep. 2011 – 01 Jan. 2013

919 proposals submitted, 113 “high priority”, 51 “filler”

excellent data, but progress slower than planned due to exceptionally bad weather, technical issues and latency

completion:

108 “high priority projects” (97%) received some data

98 (88%) completed some science goals

77 (69%) completed all science goals

2 projects cancelled

ALMA Cycle 0 (Early Science)

01 Jan. 2013 – 31 May 2014

1133 proposals submitted, 196 “high priority” + some “filler” projects

32 main-array antennas (12m) and 9 ACA antennas (7m) and 2 12m single-dish antennasno discrete configurations, but expanding and contracting

PIs requested min. resolution, largest angular scale and sensitivity

zero spacings (spectral line only)standard, ToO and DDT proposalsso far focus on commissioning, infrastructure and software development

ALMA Cycle 1 (Early Science)

ALMA Cycle 2 (Early Science)

Observing period:17 months (June 2014 – October 2015)~2000 hours available for science observing

34 main-array antennas (12m) and 9 ACA antennas (7m) and 2 12m single-dish antennasreceiver bands 3,4,6,7,8,9(limited) polarization capabilitybaselines up to 1.5km (bands 3,4,6,7)/1km (bands 8,9)mixed correlator modes (high-res. + low-res.)spectral scanssingle fields or mosaics

to be confirmed!

to be

confirmed!

ALMA Cycle 2: sensitivity

In Cycle 2, ALMA can ...reveal the behavior of solar system objects, e.g. obtain

wind patterns in the atmosphere of Mars with 300 km resolution (in ~30 minutes)

measure stellar activity from low-mass to high mass stars, e.g. image molecular outflows from pre-planetary nebulae (in ~5 minutes)

survey star forming regions, e.g. detect thousands of lines with < 1km/s resolution around Ori-KL (in ~ 40 minutes)

resolve molecular structures in external galaxies, e.g. 6pc clouds of excited CO(3-2) in M83 (in less than 2 hours)

detect the ISM in high-redshift galaxies, e.g. major cooling line [CII] line in a lensed Milky Way galaxy at z=4.2 (in ~30 minutes)

ALMA Cycle 2: key dates*Early October 2013: Publication of Cycle 1 status report10 October 2013, 15:00 UT: Deadline for Notices of Intent 24 October 2013: Call for Proposals for ALMA Early Science Cycle 2, release of Observing Tool, and opening of Archive for proposal submissionNovember 2013: ALMA Community Days at some ARC nodes5 December 2013: Proposal DeadlineMid April 2014: Result of the proposal review process sent to PIsJune 2014: Start of ALMA Cycle 2 observing October 2015: End of ALMA Cycle 2 observing

*ALMA reserves the right to alter the given dates if necessary.

What is ALMA?Current statusScience Verification and Early Science resultsALMA operations: from a proposal to imagesNeed help? The ALMA support structure

Science Verification (SV)

the process by which ALMA demonstrates that it is capable of producing data of the required quality

focused on reproducing results already obtained with other telescopes

the reduced and calibrated datasets are available to the community for download

raw data

data reduction scripts and CASA guides

data products: images, cubes

TW Hya: band 3,6,7, high spectral resolution

NGC3256: band 3, low spectral resolution

Antennae galaxies: band 6,7, high spectral resolution

M100: band 3, low spectral resolution

SgrA*: band 3,6, recombination lines

BR1202-0725: band 7, low spectral resolution

IRAS16293: band 6,9, high spectral resolution

Centaurus A: band 6, mosaic

Orion KL: band 6, high resolution spectral survey

HD163296: band 6,7, multiple spectral lines, mixed modes

GRB 110715A: ToO proof of concept, continuum

SV data availableband 7 CASA guide

band 7 CASA guide

band 3 CASA guide

band 9 CASA guide

ALMA Science Verification: TW Hyaclassical T Tauri star (10 Myr, d = 51 ± 4 pc, actively accreting)evidence for multiple pathways to deuterium enhancements in protoplanetary disks (DCN(3-2), DCO+(3-2), Öberg et al. 2012, ApJ 749, 162)

images at various wavelengths reveal an optically thick dust disk (band 7, total time 4.5 hours, 8 antennas)

CO(3-2)

HCO+(4-3)

Intensity Velocity Field Velocity dispersion

ALMA Science verification: M100

grand design spiral in VirgoCO(1-0) line (band 3) observed with 13 antennas - 47 pointing mosaica very good target to test combination of ACA and single dish data with main array

ALMA SV: galaxies at z = 4.7Pair of gas-rich galaxies at z = 4.7,

BR1202-0725, extreme merger event?Quasar host galaxy, a bright submillimeter galaxy (SMG) and a fainter star-forming galaxyWagg et al. 2012, ApJ 752, L30

(SMA, Iono 2006)

Science Verification continues

goal: demonstrate the full range of new capabilitieslarge mosaicsmixed correlator modesACA and zero spacinglonger baselines polarizationsolar observingon-the-fly mosaics

watch your ALMA newsletter for new SV data!

New SV Targets

Mars 3,6,7 (CH4, CO)

12m+ACA+SD

mixed, 1spw/BB

multi-field calibration to exclude telluric lines

VV114 9 (CO) 12m+ACA low spectral res

imaging extended structure

Fornax Cluster 3 (CO) 12m+ACA low spectral

resmulti-field and multi-velocity interferometry

NGC1512/10 3 (CO) 12m+ACA+

SDmixed, 1spw/BB large mosaic

Lamdba Orionis 3 (contin) 12m+ACA+

SDlow spectral res

imaging extended structure, continuum SD

CB547 (CO(3-2), HCO+(4-3), ....

12mmixed, multiple spw/BB

spectral modes

New SV Targets (continued)HR 3126/IC 2220 3 (CO, CN) 12m+ACA

+SDmixed, 1spw/BB large mosaic

Chameleon 6 (CO, SiO) 12m mixed, 1spw/BB

multi-field interferometry, long baselines

RXCJ1347-1145 3 (contin) 12m+ACA

low spectral res

imaging extended structure

M16 (The Eagle Nebula) 6 (CO) 12m+ACA

+SDmixed, 1 spw/BB large mosaic

G34.26+0.15

9 (H21a, CH3CN, 34SO2, SO2, CH3CN, 13CO)

12m+ACA+SD

mixed, multiple spw/BB

high angular resolution

water masers 7,9 (H2O, 321, 325, 658 GHz) 12m mixed,

1spw/BB

high angular res, survey mode (non-multi-field)

ALMA Early Science Results

ALMA Observations of the Debris Disk around Fomalhaut Sharp ring of mm-size grains, indirect evidence for shepherding planetsBoley et al. 2012, ApJ, 750, L21

ES results: debris disk

ALMA Observations of the Carbon AGB star R Sclspiral structure reveals companionMaercker et al. 2012, Nature, 490, 232

ES results: detached shell

ES results: starburst-driven winds

CO(1-0) map of NGC253

NGC253, a nearby prototypical starburst galaxyCO(1-0) shows outflowstarburst-driven winds may suppress further star formationBolatto et al. 2013, Nature 499, 450

[NII] in the high-z galaxy LESS J03322[NII] at z~4.76, first [CII]/[NII] allows estimate of the metallicityNagao et al. 2012, A&A 542, L34

ES results: metallicity of high-z galaxy(d

e B

reuc

k et

al.

2011

, AP

EX

[CII]

)

ES results: other headlines

large fraction of dusty starburst galaxies at z > 4(Vieira et al. 2013 Nature 495, 344, Weiss et al. 2013, ApJ 767, 88)

CO snow line imaged in TW Hya, a solar nebula analog (Qi et al. 2013, Science 341, 630)

dust trap detected and modeled around Oph IRS 48 (van der Marel et al. 2013, Science 340,1199)

a very massive star forming in the IRDC SDC335(Peretto et al. 2013, A&A 555,112)

glycolaldehyde found around IRAS 16293-2422, a solar-type protostar (Joergensen et al. 2012, ApJ 757, 4)

… and many more!

What is ALMA?Current statusALMA Science Verification and Early ScienceALMA operations: from a proposal to imagesNeed help? The ALMA support structure

ALMA science operations

observations only in service observing mode with flexible (dynamic) schedulingobservations 24h/day interrupted by maintenance periodsall observations executed in the form of scheduling blocks(SBs)Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) is responsible for the data product qualitydefault output: reliable images, calibrated and imaged using the data reduction pipelineall science and calibration raw data are captured and archived

Life of an ALMA projectProposal*(ALMA-OT)

Review panel(per science category)

Scheduling blocks*(ALMA-OT, 30-60 min)

Observation of SBs(dynamic, queue-based)

Quality assurance(multi-tiered, staff & automated)

Pipeline data reduction(images, cubes)

Archiving at ARCs(images, cubes, raw data, scripts)

Data analysis, publication*

* = face-to-face support available at (the nodes of) the ALMA Regional Centre

Quality Assurancegoal: “deliver to the PI a reliable final data product that has reached the desired control parameters outlined in the science goals, that is calibrated to the desired accuracy and free of calibration or imaging artifacts”for Early Science: QA on a best effort basis

Breakdown of QA into broad steps that mimic the data flowData Taking: QA0 (SB-level) & QA1 (Observatory Tasks)Data Reduction: QA2 (Data Reduction/Science Pipeline)Post-Data Reduction: QA3 (Feedback from users)

What is being delivered

Cycle 0: tar files delivered through ftpfrom Cycle 1: delivery of data through Science Portal1 year proprietary time starts after data are available to PI

scripts: a priori calibration, calibration and imagingraw: data after a priori calibrationcalibration: all calibration tables and associated diagnostic plots.calibrated: fully calibrated (and flux equalized) data (no self-cal)product: FITS images and cubeslog: all logsqa: checklists, diagnostic plots and printouts

What is ALMA?Current statusALMA Science Verification and Early ScienceALMA operations: from a proposal to imagesNeed help? The ALMA support structure

ALMA Regional Centres

ALMA Regional Centres (ARCs) = interface between users and the Joint ALMA Observatory

ARCs provide services to ALMA operationsservices to the user communities

The European ARC structure

In the EU executive, the ARC consists of a network of regional nodes with a central node at ESO, Garching

The European ARC structure

ESO Director General

Directorate of Operations

Data Management Operations (DMO)

User Science Support

Archive Operations

EU ARC manager(Paola Andreani)

German (Bonn-Cologne)Germany, Austria

IRAM (Grenoble)France – Germany – Spain

Italian (Bologna)Italy

Allegro (Leiden)The Netherlands

Nordic (Onsala)Scandinavia

UK (Manchester)United Kingdom

Czech (Ondrejov)Eastern Europe

The European ARC structure

Main tasks of the central ARC node:

helpdeskbasic (pipeline) data analysis

and quality assessmentarchivesoftware/tools developmentobserving strategiessupport for large/advanced

programsuser trainingpress and public relations

The European ARC structure

Main tasks of the regional nodes:

face-to-face user supportone-on-one support of

approved projectsadvanced data reductionEU-wide support in special

expertise areascontact to local scientific

communitycommunity developmentlocal public outreach

The German ARC nodeUniversities of Bonn and Colognespecial expertise: polarimetry,

advanced data analysis and modeling

The German ARC nodeUser support and software:

phase II support of 11+ scientific projects (Cycle 0+1)participation in imaging and single dish task forceparticipation in software tests

Training and Outreach:Lecture course Practical Radio Interferometry (Oct-Feb)annually ALMA Community Days (Nov. 2013)monthly newsletter (+ newsflashes)ALMA talks in seminarsconferences: meetings of the German Astronomical Society (AG-Tagungen), NAM 2012, specialized meetingspublic talks: Planetarium Bochum, Walter-Hohmann-SternwarteEssen, Lehrerfortbildung Cologne, Astronomie Stiftung Trebur, Sternwarte Recklinghausen

Technical Projects:Adaptable Radiative Transfer Innovations for Submillimeter Telescopes (ARTIST) - AstronetCoherent set of Astrophysical Tools for Spectroscopy (CATS) - AstronetPolarization calibration - BMBF-VFZero spacings for continuum data - BMBF-VFCologne Database for Molecular Spectroscopy - DLR, BMBF-VF

Science:evolution of AGB stars, circumstellar chemistryastrochemistry, molecular clouds and star formationmagnetic fields in star formation processesstarburst galaxies and AGNgalaxy evolution and structure formation in the early universe

The German ARC node

The German ARC nodeWhat we can offer:

dedicated ARC room with workstationsaccess to all required software (OT, CASA) and the data archive

server with sufficient computing powereffective data reduction and analysis

dedicated contact scientistpersonal support to guarantee a productive stay in Bonn

personal desk with internet connection for your laptopparent-child roomfree tea and coffeea vibrant research environment (Argelander-Institut fürAstronomie, MPIfR, University of Cologne)

What’s the latest ALMA-related news?ESO Science Portal, homepage of your ARC nodenewsletter of the ARC node, EU-wide mailing listlocal ALMA Community Days

I have a specific question …?ask your contact scientist (approved projects)use the helpdesk (or send an email to your ARC node)

How to get help

How can I learn more about interferometry?ALMA documents (Science Portal)lecture course Practical Radio Interferometryalso: ALMA Community Days, meetings, conferences

Who can help me with my ALMA proposal?ALMA Community Days, ALMA documentsarrange a visit to your ARC node (via the helpdesk)

How to get help

My proposal was approved! What’s next?email with logistical details (and assigned node)your contact scientist supports you throughout the project

How can I learn how to reduce ALMA data?Help, my data set is huge!!!

CASA data reduction guides (Science Portal > ALMA Data > Science Verification)CASA tutorialarrange a visit to your ARC node (via the helpdesk)

How to get help

The helpdesk

The helpdesk

Advantages of the helpdesk:(growing) knowledgebase

always the right person (via triage)

holiday etc. replacement (fast feedback, log)

The helpdesk

SummaryALMA is a revolutionary new facility for mm and submm astronomy10-100x more sensitivity, 10-100x better angular resolution

commissioning well on trackofficial inauguration was in March 2013

Science Verification data available for downloadnumerous papers published or in preparation

Early Science observations ongoinglook for results at conferences, in refereed journals and press releases

extensive support available at the ARC nodes

ALMA is for all astronomers!

Let’s stay in touch!

ALMA Science Portal at ESO: almascience.eso.orgHelpdesk: help.almascience.org

Allegro (Dutch ARC node): www.alma-allegro.nlCzech ARC node: www.asu.cas.cz/almaGerman ARC node: www.astro.uni-bonn.de/ARC/IRAM ARC node: www.iram.fr/IRAMFR/ARC/Italian ARC node: www.alma.inaf.it/Nordic ARC node: www.nordic-alma.se/UK ARC node: almadev.jb.man.ac.uk/