The acceptance of the ALMA Cycle 2 software, required for Cycle 2 observations and paving the way for the start of Cycle 2 observation in early June 2014, will shortly be announced. Part of the Cycle 2 software is an on-line interface to the ALMA calibrator source catalogue, which will soon be available on the ALMA science portal. A brief description of the ALMA calibrator survey was recently published.
The User Support Department (USD) would like to thank all those Principal Investigators and their Phase 2 delegates who filled in the on-line User Satisfaction Survey. As of mid-March 2014, 155 responses were received from our targeted campaign. We have contacted, when possible, those respondents who provided detailed comments. A summary report of the User Satisfaction Survey is now available.
Access to reduced scientific data from the VLT X-shooter spectrograph is now provided from the Science Archive Facility. 33000 spectra of all kinds of sources obtained in ECHELLE,SLIT mode, from the beginning of X-shooter operations in October 2009 until the end of 2013, have been published. The X-shooter reduced data collection will grow with time in monthly release cycles as reduced products become available.
ESO Workshop, ESO Headquarters, Garching, Germany, 24–28 November 2014
Recent years have seen a huge development in high-resolution techniques, which are critical to progress in many different areas of astronomy. These techniques can be divided into direct methods (e.g., adaptive optics, lucky imaging), interferometry (including speckle imaging and spectro-astrometry) and reconstruction methods (astrotomography). This workshop aims to bring together the different communities working in these fields increasing the synergies among them.
The research studentship programme provides an outstanding opportunity for Ph.D. students to experience the exciting scientific environment, at one of the world's leading observatories, for a period of up to two years.
The European Week of Astronomy and Space Science (EWASS, formerly JENAM) is the annual meeting of the European Astronomical Society (EAS). In addition to plenary sessions and the award of prestigious prizes, the conference hosts many parallel symposia, special sessions and meetings.
EWASS14 accommodates five lectures from EAS prize awardees, seven additional plenary talks on various topics and also the ESA and ESO reports, ten symposia and four special sessions. Among the symposia, one is dedicated to millimetre and submillimetre astronomy in the ALMA era. Registration for EWASS and the symposia is open until 15 April and the abstract deadline is 15 March 2014. Full details are available on the conference website.
Galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGN) are not randomly distributed in the Universe. The distribution of AGN, measured by clustering, enables new insights into the physical conditions that govern the accretion onto supermassive black holes and AGN clustering can provide constraints on cosmological parameters. AGN clustering measurements have gained significant interest in the last decade and upcoming large surveys will generate samples with several million objects. These surveys offer the unique opportunity to study AGN and galaxy co-evolution, AGN physics, and cosmology with AGN clustering measurements.
This ESO workshop, which will be the first ever dedicated workshop to AGN clustering, aims to summarize our current understanding of AGN clustering and how the community should prepare for upcoming datasets and challenges. More details are available on the workshop web page, or by email. Registration remains open.
The study of stellar populations is one of the most relevant diagnostics to constrain galaxy formation and evolution. Quantitative analyses of the stellar content of galaxies pave the way to 'convert' starlight into physical quantities like stellar masses, chemical abundances and star formation rates, and to trace the evolution and chemical enrichment history of galaxies.
The main goal of this workshop is to share observations, models, techniques and recent results on galaxy evolution. Particular emphasis will be given to the current limitations affecting the intrinsic degeneracy of the multi-dimensional parameter space and to possible solutions to build a more unified and coherent picture of galaxy evolution.The impact of the E-ELT and its first generation of instruments on studies of resolved and unresolved stellar populations will also be discussed. More details are available here or by email. The registration and abstract deadline are 12 September 2014.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has been producing a growing number of impressive and transformational science results as the most powerful mm/submm interferometer in the world. Held in central Tokyo, the aim of this workshop is to highlight the science results from ALMA obtained during the first three years of science operations. The science topics include all fields of astronomy: cosmology and galaxies in the distant Universe; nearby galaxies and the Galactic Centre; the interstellar medium and star formation in our own Galaxy; astrochemistry, circumstellar disks, exoplanets and the Solar System; stellar evolution and solar physics; and fundamental physics.
This four day workshop will feature invited and contributed talks, poster sessions and an optional full day excursion. Young researchers and students are particularly encouraged to attend the meeting. Registration will open in early May and more details are available from the conference website.
