ALMA
The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) is a partnership among East Asia, Europe, and North America in cooperation with the Republic of Chile.
ALMA construction and operation are led on behalf of Europe by the European Organization for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO); on behalf of North America by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), which is managed by Associated Universities, Inc.; and on behalf of East Asia by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). The Joint ALMA Observatory(JAO), located in Santiago, Chile, provides unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning, and operation of ALMA.
Visit the ALMA website for the public for more details on the observatory, antennas, and site, and recent press releases.
Visit the ALMA Science portal to find details about the technical capabilities of ALMA, how to make a proposal for observing time, and how to access ALMA data.
ALMA construction and operation are led on behalf of Europe by the European Organization for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO); on behalf of North America by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), which is managed by Associated Universities, Inc.; and on behalf of East Asia by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). The Joint ALMA Observatory(JAO), located in Santiago, Chile, provides unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning, and operation of ALMA.
Visit the ALMA website for the public for more details on the observatory, antennas, and site, and recent press releases.
Visit the ALMA Science portal to find details about the technical capabilities of ALMA, how to make a proposal for observing time, and how to access ALMA data.
Research fields studied using ALMA
- cosmology and the high-redshift,
- galaxies and galactic nuclei,
- the interstellar medium, star formation, and astrochemistry,
- circumstellar disks, exoplanets, and the solar system.
EA-ARC: East Asian ALMA Regional Center
The interface between ALMA and the astronomy community is provided by the three partners through ALMA Regional Centers (ARCs). These are located at NAOJ in Mitaka, Japan, for the East Asian partners, at ESO in Garching, Germany, for the European partners, and at NRAO in Charlottesville, US, for the North American partners.
The EA ARC provides the primary gateway to ALMA for the East Asian user community. The ARC is staffed by scientists with expertise in radio astronomy and interferometry, and their purpose is to work with the community of astronomers to maximize the scientific productivity of the telescope. The EA ARC Headquarters (HQ) is located at NAOJ in Mitaka. The key user service of the EA ARC at the HQ includes the complete trajectory from proposal preparation and observational preparation to delivery of the calibrated science products to the users. In addition to user services, the EA ARC provides a number of functional duties directed toward ALMA operation, commissioning, development, and outreach. For more information, visit the EA ARC website.
The EA-ARC consists of the EA ARC HQ at NAOJ in Japan, a Taiwanese node at Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics in Taiwan, and a Korean node at KASI in Korea.
Korea officially joined the East Asia ALMA consortium on 2014-08-17 by signing an agreement between the National Institutes of Natural Sciences of Japan and KASI concerning the operation and development of ALMA. This agreement enables Korea’s participation in the ALMA project as well as its contribution to the operation of ALMA and development of new instruments.
The EA ARC provides the primary gateway to ALMA for the East Asian user community. The ARC is staffed by scientists with expertise in radio astronomy and interferometry, and their purpose is to work with the community of astronomers to maximize the scientific productivity of the telescope. The EA ARC Headquarters (HQ) is located at NAOJ in Mitaka. The key user service of the EA ARC at the HQ includes the complete trajectory from proposal preparation and observational preparation to delivery of the calibrated science products to the users. In addition to user services, the EA ARC provides a number of functional duties directed toward ALMA operation, commissioning, development, and outreach. For more information, visit the EA ARC website.
The EA-ARC consists of the EA ARC HQ at NAOJ in Japan, a Taiwanese node at Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics in Taiwan, and a Korean node at KASI in Korea.
Korea officially joined the East Asia ALMA consortium on 2014-08-17 by signing an agreement between the National Institutes of Natural Sciences of Japan and KASI concerning the operation and development of ALMA. This agreement enables Korea’s participation in the ALMA project as well as its contribution to the operation of ALMA and development of new instruments.
Korean ARC Node
The main mission of the Korean ARC Node is to provide support service to the ALMA user community in Korea. This includes proposal and observation preparation, data reduction and data analysis, and help and encouragement for the Korean community to make the best use of ALMA. Please visit the website of the Korean ARC Node for more information.
Korea’s participation in the ALMA project is not limited to operational support but also extends to the development of new instruments.
We organized the following ARC activities before launching an official Korean ARC node.
Korea’s participation in the ALMA project is not limited to operational support but also extends to the development of new instruments.
We organized the following ARC activities before launching an official Korean ARC node.
ALMA Town Meeting
Starting with ALMA Cycle 2, principal investigators with a Korean affiliation were able to submit their proposals for the East Asian share of ALMA observation time. The ALMA Korea project group (the predecessor to the Korean ARC Node) prepared and organized a town meeting to help Korean researchers prepare their ALMA proposals for Cycle 2. Such a meeting will be conducted before every ALMA proposal deadline.
East-Asia ALMA Science Workshop
The main aim of this annual workshop is to continue promoting collaboration among East Asian astronomers for ALMA science. The ALMA Korea project group hosted the 2014 East Asia ALMA Science Workshop.