ALMA starts the process of recovering the telescope array

The Joint ALMA Observatory has today (October 1st, 2020) announced that they are starting the process of recovering the telescope array. After six months offline, the exact timescale for a return to full operations is currently not easy to predict. The JAO cautions that January 2021 is the very earliest there may be enough antennas and cooled receivers to attempt the first science observations.

The full JAO statement can be found here, and an ALMA Regional Centre Community Assembly will be hosted by ESO next week (see next news item) to provide more details to ALMA users across Europe. The UK ARC Node will also keep the UK community updated via this newsletter and our website.

ALMA Regional Centre Community Assembly

Statement from ESO (see https://www.eso.org/sci/facilities/alma/news/announcements/alma-ann1812211111.html):

The European ALMA Regional Centre invites all European ALMA users to a short virtual community assembly on October 8 at 10:00 CEST. After a long period of suspended science observing, there is now a path towards getting back on sky and collecting science data with ALMA again. At this community meeting, we will update you on the time line for recovery and can answer any questions you may have on your ALMA projects and support from the European ARC network.

Reserve the date: 8 October at 10:00 CEST (09:00 BST)

The meeting can be accessed at this link. Looking forward to seeing you then!