Development Study on Spectral Line Advanced Data Products Kicks Off

Published: 03 Jul 2024
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A new ALMA development study to automatically extract spectral line sources from ALMA data cubes and derive advanced data products from them had its kick-off meeting on 3 June 2024 in Gothenburg (Sweden). This new study, led by the Onsala Space Observatory (OSO, Chalmers University, Sweden), will start by examining how to optimize the Source Finding Application (SoFiA) software to extract emission lines from ALMA data cubes. The identified line emitting sources will then be run through the SoFiA Imaging Pipeline (SIP) to produce publication-quality advanced data products such as moment 0, 1 and 2 maps, position-velocity diagrams and extracted spectra. In the next stages, the study will investigate how to perform automated line identification, based on redshift information available in the archive. This can be used to improve the derivation of source properties in the advanced data products. The study aims to serve a broad range of science topics and to be able to be run on calibrated ALMA data cubes in the archive from previous Cycles. The ultimate goal is to enhance the scientific accessibility of spectral line data products for a wide range of scientific applications.