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ALMA Takes First Step Toward Return to Service

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NSF Funds New Opportunity for Undergraduate Students

AUI and UNC-Chapel Hill are currently seeking undergraduate students to contribute to cutting-edge research in astronomy education. This paid opportunity, open to education and STEM majors, explores the impacts of new curriculum centered on the use of robotic telescopes.

Stellar Explosions and Cosmic Chemistry

Astronomers have discovered the secrets of a starburst galaxy producing new stars at a rate much faster than our Milk Way. This research revealed many different molecules, more than ever seen before in a galaxy like this.

ALMA Takes First Step Toward Return to Service

Personnel at the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile have begun the process of returning the facility to an active observational status, following the shutdown caused by COVID-19 in March of 2020. Single-dish test observations of Mars at Band 3 (84-116 GHz) have been completed with two antennas. The first few ALMA antennas are being brought back online initially by powering up their drive systems.

We are grateful to the dedicated crew that is working to bring ALMA back into operation, and are happy to see this successful first step. Much work remains to be done, but we have begun the journey.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.

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The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (ESO), the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) of Japan in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA is funded by ESO on behalf of its Member States, by NSF in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and by NINS in cooperation with the Academia Sinica (AS) in Taiwan and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI).

ALMA construction and operations are led by ESO on behalf of its Member States; by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), managed by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI), on behalf of North America; and by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) on behalf of East Asia. The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning and operation of ALMA.

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This news article was originally published on the NRAO website on January 14, 2021.

Recent News

ASTRO ACCEL Announces Inaugural Cohort of Early Career Researchers

ASTRO ACCEL brings together researchers and practitioners in the domains of astronomy education, engagement, communication and culture to connect stakeholders and advance these areas of research, proudly unveils its inaugural cohort of eight early career researchers.

NSF Funds New Opportunity for Undergraduate Students

AUI and UNC-Chapel Hill are currently seeking undergraduate students to contribute to cutting-edge research in astronomy education. This paid opportunity, open to education and STEM majors, explores the impacts of new curriculum centered on the use of robotic telescopes.

Stellar Explosions and Cosmic Chemistry

Astronomers have discovered the secrets of a starburst galaxy producing new stars at a rate much faster than our Milk Way. This research revealed many different molecules, more than ever seen before in a galaxy like this.