Dawn of Planet Formation Unveiled by ALMA Observations
The ALMA image of the dust disc around the protostellar object DG Tau. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), S. Ohashi, et al.
Researchers led by Satoshi Ohashi from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan have identified the initial state of planet formation within a nearby protostar. Their ALMA observations of the protostellar disc around DG Tau have revealed that it is smooth and featureless in contrast to the many other discs with multiple gaps and ring features that have been seen in other protostellar systems. The absence of such gaps and rings in the DG Tau system is clear evidence that planet formation has not yet commenced there. Additionally, the analysis of the DG Tau implies that planet formation may begin on the outer regions of the disc, challenging the current theories of planet formation.
More information is available from the press release and the publication in the Astrophysical Journal.
Update on Cycle 10 Observations
ALMA Cycle 10 observations commenced successfully on 30 September with the 12m array in configuration C-8. However, the movement of the array into configuration C-7, which was scheduled for 20 October, has been delayed until at least 10 November. This delay is a result of both antenna transporters being taken out of operation for urgent maintenance. More information is available from the ESO Portal.
Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade
Work towards the ALMA Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade is now underway. This upgrade will increase the available instantaneous IF bandwidth of ALMA by at least a factor 2, providing 16 GHz per polarisation but with a goal of 32 GHz per polarisation. In addition, with the new correlator, observers will no longer have to trade bandwidth for spectral resolution. The enlarged bandwidth, combined with an upgraded digital system, will also result in an increased continuum sensitivity of at least 3. Additional news about the Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade, including information about a community workshop, should be available before the end of the year.
Registration for the 2024 European ALMA School is now open
The European ALMA Regional Centre network is organising an ALMA School for ALMA users that will be hosted by the UK ARC Node on 10-14 June 2024 in Manchester. This school is designed to provide training on a broad range of aspects related to ALMA, including interferometry, data calibration and imaging, the ALMA archive, analysis techniques, ALMA science, and future ALMA developments.
Registration for the meeting is now open at this link. Note that the meeting is in-person only and will be limited to approximately 80 - 90 participants. Registration will remain open until 31 December 2023, but people are advised to register early to avoid being placed on a waiting list.
For more details, please visit the meeting website. The full meeting details are currently being finalised, and the meeting website will be updated regularly with more information and announcements, including upcoming information on:
- A detailed agenda for the meeting.
- Warnings when the registration numbers begin to approach the meeting limit on participants.
- Discounted block-booking hotel accommodation near the venue.
- Detailed information on the venue and the city of Manchester.
UK ALMA 2024 Hybrid Workshop
19-21 February 2023
Alan Turing Building, The University of Manchester
Manchester, United Kingdom
This workshop will provide an introduction to ALMA and instructions on how to work with data from the observatory and will include sessions on preparing proposals, downloading data from the ALMA archive, calibrating and imaging ALMA data, and using advanced ALMA-related tools.
This workshop will be conducted in a hybrid format with participants having the option of either attending the workshop in person at the University of Manchester or joining online. More details will be provided later. While the workshop is aimed primarily at novice ALMA users, particularly from the United Kingdom, other users with higher levels of experience or from other locations are also welcome to attend.
To sign up, click on this link. Registration will close on 15 December 2023. For more information about the workshop, see the workshop's webpage.
e-MERLIN Invitation for Proposals for Cycle 17
Deadline: 13:59:59 UT, 02 November 2023
e-MERLIN requests proposals from the international astronomical community for observations to be made during Cycle-17. e-MERLIN produces high angular resolution (12 - 150 milli-arcsec) and high sensitivity (micro-Janksy) imaging in L-band (1.25-1.75 GHz), C-band (4.5-7.5 GHz), and K-band (19-25 GHz) as well as polarimetry, spectroscopy, and astrometry, thus providing crucial insights in multiple science areas as discussed on the e-MERLIN Science Research page. e-MERLIN is an SKA-pathfinder instrument providing observations with resolutions and frequencies comparable to those that will be provided by SKA-mid.
Proposals are competitively peer-reviewed under standard STFC rules by the e-MERLIN Time Allocation Committee. Allocation will be made on the basis of scientific merit and technical feasibility alone. The full invitation for proposals, including technical specifications, and links to the e-MERLIN Sensitivity Calculator are available at www.e-merlin.ac.uk/observe.html. The deadline for the receipt of the proposals is 13:59:59 UT on 02 November 2023.
New versions of CASA released
New versions of CASA have been released. CASA version 6.6.0 is available for general use, while CASA 6.5.4 is the latest version for the ALMA Pipeline. These versions of CASA include multiple minor improvements on prior versions of CASA.
These versions of CASA are available from the CASA Download page. More general information is available from the CASA homepage.
Showcasing ALMA Results from the UK Community
The UK ARC Node would like to showcase the excellent research being conducted by UK-based astronomers using ALMA. Each month, we would like to highlight one or two recent journal articles or press releases as lead items in this newsletter.
We are now opening submissions for inclusion in next November’s and December’s newsletters. If you are a UK based astronomer who has led or contributed significantly to a recently published article which uses ALMA data and would like to publicise your work in the UK ALMA Newsletter, please contact us via our email with the subject "Science Highlight". In your submission, please include a brief summary of your science results and links to the published article/press release.