Galaxies 09: Assembly, Gas Content and Star Formation History of Galaxies

Alison Peck
ALMA/NRAO

The Current Status of ALMA

The Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an international millimeter/submillimeter interferometer under construction in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. ALMA construction and operations are led on behalf of Europe by ESO, on behalf of Japan by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and on behalf of North America by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). ALMA is situated on a high-altitude site at 5000m elevation which provides excellent atmospheric transmission over most of the wavelength range of 0.3 to 3 mm. At the shortest planned wavelength and most extended configuration, the angular resolution of ALMA will be 5 milliarcseconds. This will give us the ability to, for example, image the gas kinematics in protostars and in protoplanetary disks around young Sun-like stars at a distance of 150 pc, or to image the redshifted dust continuum emission from evolving galaxies at epochs of formation as early as z = 10. At present, there are 18 scientists from all over the world working at the Joint ALMA Observatory in Santiago, all of whom are assisting with commissioning and planning activities, as well as carrying out their own research programs. A number of antennas have been delivered and assembled by the vendors at the Operations Support Facility (OSF) at 3000m near San Pedro de Atacama. The first three antennas have been conditionally accepted by ALMA, and are in the process of being assessed by our engineering and science staff in Chile. We expect to be doing interferometric tests using a single baseline correlator during 2009, so that extensive evaluation of the full system can be done at the OSF. These antennas will then be moved to the high site at the end of the year and commissioning will begin with fringes and phase closure using the full ALMA correlator shortly after that. The call for proposals for Early Science observations is planned in late 2010, with full science operations in 2012.


 Return to the Conference Program