On 16 June 2026, EASC hosted the ALMA Band 2 Production Completion Event. 36 participants from the Band 2 consortium, contributing European institutes, industry partners, and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) travelled to ESO Garching to celebrate this important milestone for ALMA. Together with ESO staff, more than 70 people attended the associated workshop and celebration activities throughout the day.

Advanced data products (ADPs) are becoming increasingly important at modern radio observatories, helping transform complex observational datasets into more accessible, science-ready resources. Products such as enhanced images, spectral products, catalogs, or other higher-level derived datasets can reduce the effort required for scientific analysis and broaden access to archival data. To better understand how such products are currently used, and what additional capabilities may be most valuable to the community in the future, the Advanced Data Products Coordination Group (ADPCG), with members from various radio observatories and the broader community, is conducting a short survey on the usage and potential needs for advanced data products. We warmly encourage all members of the community to participate and share their perspective.

ADPCG Community Survey 2026 – Fill out form

A detailed report of the Cycle 13 Proposal Submission Statistics is now available. The report provides a summary of items such as the number of submitted proposals and time requested, subscription rates, and comparisons with the number of hours requested in previous Cycles.

In Cycle 13, the number of proposals and requested time reached all-time highs. The European oversubscription rate also reached an all-time high of 10.2.

The report can be downloaded as a pdf document.

The ALMA Observatory is starting the release process of the data acquired in one of the Observatory Projects, 2024.A.00047.S. The status of the data delivery can be checked through this link. The same link can be used to download the data once it is delivered. ALMA Science Archive links for all the Observatory Projects can also be accessed from this main page for the Observatory Projects.

In preparation for the Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade (WSU) programme, a team lead by Faouzi Boussaha from the Instrumental Research and Development group at LUX – Paris Observatory (France) has started a new ALMA development study to contribute to the development of the next generation of SIS (Superconductor–Insulator–Superconductor) detectors for ALMA's Band 9. The goal of the study is to double the instantaneous IF bandwidth and significantly increase the sensitivity, requiring a new generation of ultra-sensitive detector elements known as SIS junctions. Specifically, the study plans to use the Aluminium Oxide technology but will investigate new substrates such as silicon on insulator.