Observation Completion by Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS (AMSR-E)

JAXA logo labeled.

October 5, 2011

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has been operating the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS (AMSR-E) for over nine years (despite a design life of three years) as an onboard device installed in the American earth observation satellite Aqua, after its launch on May 4, 2002. Since the end of August, 2011, however, the continuous increase of relatively large antenna rotation friction was detected twice, thus JAXA has been monitoring the condition. At 3:58 p.m. on October 4, 2011 (Japan Standard Time,) the AMSR-E reached its limit(*1) to maintain the rotation speed necessary for regular observations (40 rotations per minute), and the radiometer automatically halted its observations and rotation.

JAXA will continue to analyze this problem, and take necessary measures to correct the situation. We will also launch the successor to the AMSR-E, the Global Change Observation Mission 1st- Water "SHIZUKU" (GCOM-W1.)

*1) When rotation friction occurs, it is necessary to produce a turning force (torque) to offset the friction in order to maintain the rotation speed. The limit in this context means the maximum value of the torque (4.5 Nm,) which the AMSR-E's motor can produce.

Aqua/AMSR-E

(Reference) AMSR-E achievements

The AMSR-E is a microwave scanning radiometer with the world's highest performance. It can observe global-scale water, including ocean ice, surface temperatures, vapors, precipitation and soil water, regardless of weather conditions or if it is day or night by measuring faint radio waves emitted from the Earth.

(1) Contributing to practical areas

The AMSR-E contributed to accuracy improvement of weather forecasts by meteorological agencies around the world such as the Japan Meteorological Agency as its data was used for numerical weather predictions and for determining the center of a typhoon.

It was also helpful for more efficient operations of fishing boats as the data was used for compiling ocean condition information for fishing by a fishing industry information service center and other organizations.
   
The radiometer also contributed to monitoring the Sea of Okhotsk by the Japan Coast Guard and editing a report on overseas food demands through studying global drought conditions by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

(2) Usefulness to water circulation and climate change fields

Through long-time continuous observations of the Arctic ice, the AMSR-E was very helpful for understanding the impact of global warming by clarifying the smallest Arctic ice area in the observation history in the summer of 2007, and the second largest decrease of the area in the observation history in the summer of 2011.

With data observed by other satellites, the radiometer's data greatly contributed to the global precipitation map. The data was also very useful for international climate change research.

For other AMSR-E achievements in the past, please also refer to the Space Activities Commission (SAC) report issued on Aug. 31, 2005.

SAC Report on Aug. 31, 2005 (Japanese language only):
http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2005/08/20050831_sac_amsr-e_j.html

Earth Observation Center: http://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/en/index.php

Mission website:

"Aqua" Earth Observation Satellite: http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/aqua/index_e.html

Image, Text, Credit: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Arctic Sea Ice Continues Decline, Hits Second-Lowest Level

NASA - Operation IceBridge patch.

Oct. 4, 2011

Last month the extent of sea ice covering the Arctic Ocean declined to the second-lowest extent on record. Satellite data from NASA and the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado in Boulder showed that the summertime sea ice cover narrowly avoided a new record low.

Image above: NASA satellite data reveals how this year's minimum sea ice extent, reached on Sept. 9 as depicted here, declined to a level far smaller than the 30-year average (in yellow) and opened up Northwest Passage shipping lanes (in red). (Credit: NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio).

The Arctic ice cap grows each winter as the sun sets for several months and shrinks each summer as the sun rises higher in the northern sky. Each year the Arctic sea ice reaches its annual minimum extent in September. It hit a record low in 2007.

The near-record ice-melt followed higher-than-average summer temperatures, but without the unusual weather conditions that contributed to the extreme melt of 2007. "Atmospheric and oceanic conditions were not as conducive to ice loss this year, but the melt still neared 2007 levels," said NSIDC scientist Walt Meier. "This probably reflects loss of multiyear ice in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas as well as other factors that are making the ice more vulnerable."

Joey Comiso, senior scientist  at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., said the continued low minimum sea ice levels fits into the large-scale decline pattern that scientists have watched unfold over the past three decades.

"The sea ice is not only declining, the pace of the decline is becoming more drastic," Comiso said. "The older, thicker ice is declining faster than the rest, making for a more vulnerable perennial ice cover."

This video shows Arctic sea ice from March 7, 2011, to Sept. 9, 2011, ending with a comparison of the 30-year average minimum extent (in yellow) and the Northwest Passage (shown in red). (Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center).

While the sea ice extent did not dip below the 2007 record, the sea ice area as measured by the microwave radiometer on NASA's Aqua satellite did drop slightly lower than 2007 levels for about 10 days in early September, Comiso said. Sea ice "area" differs from extent in that it equals the actual surface area covered by ice, while extent includes any area where ice covers at least 15 percent of the ocean.

Arctic sea ice extent on Sept. 9, the lowest point this year, was 4.33 million square kilometers (1.67 million square miles). Averaged over the month of September, ice extent was 4.61 million square kilometers (1.78 million square miles). This places 2011 as the second lowest ice extent both for the daily minimum extent and the monthly average. Ice extent was 2.43 million square kilometers (938,000 square miles) below the 1979 to 2000 average.

This summer's low ice extent continued the downward trend seen over the last 30 years, which scientists attribute largely to warming temperatures caused by climate change. Data show that Arctic sea ice has been declining both in extent and thickness. Since 1979, September Arctic sea ice extent has declined by 12 percent per decade.

"The oldest and thickest ice in the Arctic continues to decline, especially in the Beaufort Sea and the Canada Basin," NSIDC scientist Julienne Stroeve said. "This appears to be an important driver for the low sea ice conditions over the past few summers."

Climate models have suggested that the Arctic could lose almost all of its summer ice cover by 2100, but in recent years, ice extent has declined faster than the models predicted.

Video above: In a taped version of a live broadcast, NASA Cryosphere Program Manager Tom Wagner shares his insights on the 2011 minimum. (Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center).

NASA monitors and studies changing sea ice conditions in both the Arctic and Antarctic with a variety of spaceborne and airborne research capabilities. This month NASA resumes Operation IceBridge, a multi-year series of flights over sea ice and ice sheets at both poles. This fall's campaign will be based out of Punta Arenas, Chile, and make flights over Antarctica . NASA also continues work toward launching ICESat-2 in 2016, which will continue its predecessor's crucial laser altimetry observations of ice cover from space.

To see a NASA data visualization of the 2011 Arctic sea ice minimum as measured by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) on Aqua, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2011-ice-min.html

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov

Image (mentioned), Videos (mentioned) Text, Credit: NASA's Earth Science News Team / Patrick Lynch.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Galileo IOV satellites fuelled for launch

ESA - Galileo IOV logo.

4 October 2011

ESA’s first two Galileo navigation satellites are both now fuelled and checked for their launch by Soyuz from French Guiana on 20 October.

The two Galileo In-Orbit Validation satellites reached Europe’s Spaceport last month. Galileo’s second flight model, FM2, touched down on 7 September on an Antonov-124 and the Galileo Protoflight Model followed it seven days later on an Ilyushin 76.

Both satellites are now fuelled and ready to be mated this week onto the dispenser that will hold them in place during launch before deploying them into their final 23 222 km orbit.

Galileo IOV satellite

The combined payload stack – the dispenser and both satellites – will then be transported from the fuelling facility to the Upper Composite Integration Facility S3B for integration with their Fregat-MT upper stage and subsequent encapsulation.

Follow the Galileo In-Orbit Validation launch campaign from the new Soyuz-Galileo IOV minisite (see below link).

Dispenser check-out with upper stage

Soyuz from French Guiana

This month’s launch will be historic: the first Soyuz launch from a spaceport outside of Baikonur in Kazakhstan or Plesetsk in Russia.

As a medium-class vehicle, Soyuz will complement Ariane and Vega to extend the flexibility and competitiveness of Europe’s launcher family.

Encapsulated under fairing

Galileo

The first two Galileo IOV satellites, launched this month, will be followed next year by two more. This quartet of satellites, built by a consortium led by EADS Astrium Germany, will form the operational nucleus of the full Galileo satnav constellation.

Galileo IOV in orbit

They combine the best atomic clock ever flown for navigation – accurate to one second in three million years – with a powerful transmitter to broadcast precise navigation signals.

Soyuz-Galileo IOV launch minisite: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Galileo_IOV/

Images, Text, Credits: ESA / P. Carril / S. Corvaja.

Cheers, Orbiter.ch

The Martian atmosphere saturated with water vapor!

ESA - Mars Express Mission patch.

Oct. 4, 2011

A new analysis of data sent by the SPICAM spectrometer aboard the Mars Express spacecraft of ESA, has revealed for the first time that the planet's atmosphere is supersaturated with water vapor. This surprising discovery with important implications for understanding the Martian water cycle as well as the evolution of its atmosphere is presented in an article in Science on September 29, 2011.

Although several satellites have visited Mars since the 70's, very few direct measurements of the vertical structure of the atmosphere of the planet were made.

Mars Express in orbit around Mars - Credit: ESA

Overall, most of the instruments that have operated in orbit to date have primarily looked at the surface. Only by studying the horizontal distribution of water in the atmosphere, they left the question of the vertical profile of water vapor in the atmosphere almost unexplored. Given this lack of direct measurements, the representation of the vertical distribution of water vapor, a key element in the hydrological cycle of Mars, is generally based on the theoretical predictions of climate models.

Finally a vertical profile of water vapor in the Martian atmosphere!

This data gap is now filled by the SPICAM spectrometer (Spectroscopy for Investigation of Characteristics of the Atmosphere of Mars) Mars Express. Used in occultation mode when it scans the sunlight through the atmosphere of the planet just before sunrise or sunset, the instrument records the measurements of various constituents of the atmosphere.

Vertical profiles of concentration can then be established, including water vapor. Or SPICAM data obtained in the infrared range in the spring and summer in the Northern Hemisphere indicate that the vertical distribution of water vapor in the Martian atmosphere is not compatible with models that Climate plan. These results provide the first evidence of the existence of water vapor in a state of supersaturation on Mars.

The atmosphere of Mars contains about 10,000 times less water vapor than that of Earth. If it condenses on the surface, the water in the Martian atmosphere would form a layer of 10 microns (1/100th of a mm) thick over the entire planet. However, water vapor is a gas trace marked by very strong momentum, proving to be one of Mars' atmospheric constituents the most variable (locally, its concentration can vary by a factor greater than 1000 during the year).

Diagram of water cycle in the Martian atmosphere - Credit: ESA / Medialab AOES

In standard terrestrial conditions, water vapor tends to condense around small airborne dust or aerosol particles or salts, when the temperature drops below the "dew point". The atmosphere is so-called "saturated", because it can hold more moisture at this temperature and the pressure. Any amount of water vapor in excess of the "dew point" condenses into droplets or ice crystals that come later rush.

However, when condensation nuclei (which are assumed to be mineral dust suspended in the atmosphere) are too rare, the condensation is very slow and does not allow water vapor to condense excess. This creates a supersaturation of water remaining in gaseous phase imbalance.

Frequent supersaturation

So far, it was assumed a priori that such a supersaturation could not exist in the Martian atmosphere, also very cold (- 100 ° C): any molecule of water beyond the saturation level was supposed to immediately transform the form of ice.

For Mars, the conditions of pressure and temperature allow only two states for water: solid and / or gas.

Nevertheless, the data revealed that the SPICAM supersaturation of water vapor is a common occurrence on Mars. Supersaturation levels are high have been found up to 10 times higher than those found on Earth.

 Mars Express in orbit around Mars - Credit: ESA

In fact, there is much more water vapor in the upper part of the Martian atmosphere than anyone had imagined.

Climate models have apparently he greatly underestimated the concentration of water vapor at altitudes above 15 km, a level at which water vapor encounters a theoretical point of condensation, with 10 to 100 times more water than was originally planned.

"The vertical distribution of water vapor is a key factor in the hydrological cycle on Mars, and an old paradigm, which assumes that water is mainly controlled by the physics of saturation should now be completely revised" Luca Maltagliati notes, post-doctoral fellow at CNES LATMOS. "Our discovery has major implications for understanding the global climate and for the transport of water at large. Indeed, the capacity of the water vapor to exist in a state of high supersaturation allows him to power atmospheric layers dominated by north-south movements. With this, the Southern Hemisphere is supplied with water much more efficiently than predicted by current models. This mechanism has probably endured and will endure even over thousands of years. "

"The data show that SPICAM much larger amount of water vapor can be transported in the atmosphere high enough to be destroyed by photodissociation," said Franck Montmessin, SPICAM scientific leader and co-author of the article.

Image of the south pole of Mars made with data from Mars Express in January 2011. Credits: ESA

Solar radiation breaks the water molecules and produce oxygen atoms of hydrogen and light enough to then escape to interplanetary space. This has fundamental implications on the issue of water on Mars, known significant fraction continually escapes to space (through the hydrogen and oxygen) for billions of years, explaining part the low concentration of present water.

After these initial revelations, the further data analysis SPICAM could still deliver amazing results.

Article references:

Evidence of Water Vapor in Excess of Saturation in the Atmosphere of Mars, L. Maltagliati, F. Montmessin, A. Fedorova, O Korablev, F. Forget, and J.-L Bertaux, Science, September 2011

Images (Mentioned), Text, Credits: CNES / ESA / Translation: Orbiter.ch.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Saturn's Geyser Moon Enceladus Shows off for Cassini

NASA - ESA Cassini "insider's" Mission logo.

10.03.11

NASA's Cassini spacecraft successfully completed its Oct. 1 flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus and its jets of water vapor and ice. At its closest approach, the spacecraft flew approximately 62 miles (100 kilometers) above the moon's surface. The close approach was designed to give some of Cassini's instruments, including the ion and neutral mass spectrometer, the chance to "taste" the jets themselves.

Image above: Cassini sees jets of water vapor and ice from Enceladus. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

At a higher vantage point during the encounter, Cassini's high-resolution camera captured pictures of the jets emanating from the moon's south polar region. The latest raw images of Enceladus are online at: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/raw/ .

Image above: During Cassini's Oct. 1, 2011 flyby, Saturn's moon Enceladus was in full view. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

The images of the surface include previously seen leading-hemisphere terrain. However, during this encounter, multi-spectral imaging of these terrains extended farther into the ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum than had previously been achieved at this resolution. By looking at the surface at ultraviolet wavelengths, scientists can better detect the difference between surface materials and shadows than they can at visible wavelengths, where icy materials are highly reflective and shadows are washed out. With both ultraviolet and visible images of the same terrain available to them, scientists will better understand how the surface coverage of icy particles coming from the vents and plumes changes with terrain type and age.

Cassini's next pass of this fascinating moon will be Oct. 19, when the spacecraft flies by at an altitude of approximately 765 miles (1231 kilometers).

Image above: NASA's Cassini imaged Enceladus' surface during its Oct. 1, 2011 flyby. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.
The Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer science team is based at the Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://www.nasa.gov/cassini and http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov

Images (mentioned), Text, Credit: JPL / Gay Hill.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

The spacecraft "Glonass-M" was launched into orbit

ROSCOSMOS - GLONASS patch.

03/10/2011

Soyuz-2.1b with the upper stage "Fregat" and navigating the spacecraft, " Glonass-M " launch

October 3 at 00 hours 15 minutes Moscow time from Launch Complex 43 site Plesetsk military calculations of the Russian Space Forces, with the participation of specialists of space-rocket industry made a successful launch of space rocket "Soyuz-2.1b" with the upper stage "Fregat" and navigating the spacecraft, " Glonass-M ".

Soyuz-2.1b with the upper stage "Fregat" and navigating the spacecraft, " Glonass-M "

In accordance with cyclogram launch the spacecraft into its target orbit at 3:00 Moscow time 47 minutes the spacecraft "Glonass-M" cleanly separated from the booster and placed on the control.

Russia successfully put into orbit the satellite Glonass M (Comments in Russian)

Deputy Head of Federal Space Agency Anatoly Shilov said that after the withdrawal of Russian satellites into orbit, the GLONASS system will be fully staffed. In 1996, in the GLONASS constellation has 24 satellites to be an active service life of three years.

 GLONASS-M in orbit (Artist's view)

Then the system deteriorated. Restore it to full strength managed to present the launch. The grouping of the 24 units allows you to receive GLONASS without limitation throughout the world, he added Shilov.

Images, Video, Text, Credits: Press Service of the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos PAO) / Roscosmos TV / Translation: Orbiter.ch.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

ESO - ALMA Opens Its Eyes

ESO - European Southern Observatory logo.

3 October 2011

The most powerful millimetre/submillimetre-wavelength telescope in the world opens for business and reveals its first image

Antennae Galaxies composite of ALMA and Hubble observations

Humanity's most complex ground-based astronomy observatory, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), has officially opened for astronomers. The first released image, from a telescope still under construction, reveals a view of the Universe that cannot be seen at all by visible-light and infrared telescopes. Thousands of scientists from around the world have competed to be among the first few researchers to explore some of the darkest, coldest, furthest, and most hidden secrets of the cosmos with this new astronomical tool.

At present, around a third of ALMA’s eventual 66 radio antennas, with separations up to only 125 metres rather than the maximum 16 kilometres, make up the growing array on the Chajnantor plateau in northern Chile, at an elevation of 5000 metres. And yet, even under construction, ALMA has become the best telescope of its kind — as reflected by the extraordinary number of astronomers who requested time to observe with ALMA.

Antennae Galaxies composite of ALMA and Hubble observations 

“Even in this very early phase ALMA already outperforms all other submillimetre arrays. Reaching this milestone is a tribute to the impressive efforts of the many scientists and engineers in the ALMA partner regions around the world who made it possible,” said Tim de Zeeuw, Director General of ESO, the European partner in ALMA.

ALMA observes the Universe in light with millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths, roughly one thousand times longer than visible-light wavelengths. Using these longer wavelengths allows astronomers to study extremely cold objects in space — such as the dense clouds of cosmic dust and gas from which stars and planets form — as well as very distant objects in the early Universe.

ALMA is radically different from visible-light and infrared telescopes. It is an array of linked antennas acting as a single giant telescope, and it detects much longer wavelengths than those of visible light. Its images therefore look quite unlike more familiar pictures of the cosmos.

ALMA view of the Antennae Galaxies

The ALMA team has been busy testing the observatory’s systems over the past few months, in preparation for the first round of scientific observations, known as Early Science. One outcome of their tests is the first image published from ALMA, albeit from what is still very much a growing telescope. Most of the observations used to create this image of the Antennae Galaxies were made using only twelve antennas working together — far fewer than will be used for the first science observations — and with the antennas much closer together as well. Both of these factors make the new image just a taster of what is to come. As the observatory grows, the sharpness, efficiency, and quality of its observations will increase dramatically as more antennas become available and the array grows in size [1].

The Antennae Galaxies are a pair of colliding galaxies with dramatically distorted shapes. While visible light shows us the stars in the galaxies, ALMA’s view reveals something that cannot be seen in visible light: the clouds of dense cold gas from which new stars form [2]. This is the best submillimetre-wavelength image ever made of the Antennae Galaxies.

Antennae Galaxies, side-by-side comparison of ALMA and VLT observations

Massive concentrations of gas are found not only in the hearts of the two galaxies but also in the chaotic region where they are colliding. Here, the total amount of gas is billions of times the mass of our Sun — a rich reservoir of material for future generations of stars. Observations like these open a new window on the submillimetre Universe and will be vital in helping us understand how galaxy collisions can trigger the birth of new stars. This is just one example of how ALMA reveals parts of the Universe that cannot be seen with visible-light and infrared telescopes.

ALMA could accept only about a hundred or so projects for this first nine-month phase of Early Science. Nevertheless, over the last few months, keen astronomers from around the world have submitted over 900 proposals for observations. This ninefold level of oversubscription is a record for a telescope. The successful projects were chosen based on their scientific merit, their regional diversity, and also their relevance to ALMA’s major science goals.

The Antennae Galaxies in the constellation of Corvus

"We are living in a historic moment for science and particularly for astronomy, and perhaps also for the evolution of humanity, because we start to use the greatest observatory under construction at the moment," said Thijs de Graauw, Director of ALMA.

One of the projects chosen for ALMA Early Science observations was that of David Wilner from the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Wilner said, “My team hunts for the building blocks of solar systems, and ALMA is uniquely equipped to spot them.”

His team’s target is AU Microscopii, a star 33 light-years away that is only 1% of the age of our Sun. “We will use ALMA to image the ‘birth ring’ of planetesimals that we believe orbits this young star. Only with ALMA, however, can we hope to discover clumps in these dusty asteroid belts, which can be the markers of unseen planets.” Wilner and his team will share their data with a European team who also requested ALMA observations of this nearby, dust-ringed star.

Wide-field view of the region around the Antennae Galaxies

Any hunt for habitable planets around other stars often begins with a hunt for water in those distant solar systems. Debris discs, the swarms of dust, gas, and rocks around stars, are suspected also to contain craggy ice chunks filled with frozen water, gas, and possibly even organic molecules — the astrochemistry of life.

Simon Casassus, from the University of Chile, and his team will use ALMA to observe the gas and dust disc around HD142527, a young star that is 400 light-years away. “The dusty disc around this star has a very large gap, which may have been carved by the formation of giant planets,” said Casassus. “Outside the gap, this disc contains enough gas to make about a dozen Jupiter-sized planets. Inside the gap, a young gaseous giant planet could still be forming, if there is gaseous material available.” Their ALMA observations will measure the mass and physical conditions of gas interior to the gap. “Thus, ALMA gives us a chance to observe planet formation, or its most recent wake,” said Casassus.

Further away, 26 000 light-years from us in the centre of our galaxy, sits Sagittarius A*, a supermassive black hole four million times the mass of our Sun. Gas and dust between it and us hide it from our optical telescopes. However, ALMA is tuned to see through the galactic murk and give us tantalising views of Sagittarius A*.

Nineteen ALMA antennas on the Chajnantor plateau

Heino Falcke, an astronomer at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands, said “ALMA will let us watch flares of light coming from around this supermassive black hole, and make images of the gas clouds caught by its immense pull. This will let us study this monster’s messy feeding habits. We think that some of the gas may be escaping its grip, at close to the speed of light.”

Like the black outlines in a child’s colouring book, cosmic dust and cold gas trace out structures inside galaxies, even if we can’t see those galaxies clearly. At the outer fringes of our visible Universe lie the mysterious starburst galaxies, bright islands in an otherwise calm, dark cosmos. ALMA will hunt for cold gas and dust tracers here, as far back as a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, at a time astronomers call “cosmic dawn”.

Masami Ouchi of the University of Tokyo in Japan will use ALMA to observe Himiko, a very distant galaxy churning out at least 100 Suns’ worth of stars every year and surrounded by a giant, bright nebula. “Other telescopes cannot show us why Himiko is so bright and how it has developed such a huge, hot nebula when the ancient Universe all around it is so calm and dark,” said Ouchi. “ALMA can show us the cold gas deep in Himiko’s star-forming nebula, tracing the movements and activities inside, and we will finally see how galaxies started forming at the cosmic dawn.”

Zooming on ALMA’s view of the Antennae Galaxies

During its Early Science observations, ALMA will continue its construction phase in the Chilean Andes, high on the remote Chajnantor Plain in the harsh Atacama Desert. Each new, climate-armoured antenna will join the array and be linked via fibre optic cabling. The views from each distant antenna are assembled into one large view by one of the world’s fastest special-purpose supercomputers, the ALMA correlator, which can perform 17 quadrillion [3] operations per second.

By 2013, ALMA will be an up to 16-km wide array of 66 ultra-precision millimetre/submillimetre wave radio antennas working together as one telescope and built by ALMA’s multinational partners in Europe, North America and East Asia.

Panning across the ALMA and Hubble views of the Antennae Galaxies

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of Europe, North America and East Asia in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA is funded in Europe by the European Southern Observatory (ESO), in North America by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the National Science Council of Taiwan (NSC) and in East Asia by the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) of Japan in cooperation with the Academia Sinica (AS) in Taiwan. ALMA construction and operations are led on behalf of Europe by ESO, on behalf of North America by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), which is managed by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI) and on behalf of East Asia by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning and operation of ALMA.

Notes:

[1] The quality of images from an interferometric telescope like ALMA depends on both the separations and the number of the antennas. Larger separations mean that sharper images can be created and if more antennas are working together more detailed images can be produced. More information about ALMA and interferometry can be found at: http://www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/alma/interferometry.html.

[2] The observations were made at specific wavelengths of millimetre and submillimetre light, tuned to detect carbon monoxide molecules in the otherwise invisible hydrogen clouds, where new stars are forming.

[3] 1.7x1016 operations per second.

More information:

ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world’s most productive astronomical observatory. It is supported by 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world’s most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and two survey telescopes. VISTA works in the infrared and is the world’s largest survey telescope and the VLT Survey Telescope is the largest telescope designed to exclusively survey the skies in visible light. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning a 40-metre-class European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become “the world’s biggest eye on the sky”.

Links:

Video: ESOcast 36: ALMA Opens Its Eyes: http://www.eso.org/public/videos/eso1137a/

Video: The ALMA Compilation 2011: http://www.eso.org/public/videos/eso1137c/

ESO ALMA pages: http://www.eso.org/alma

Pictures of ALMA: http://www.eso.org/public/images/archive/category/alma/

JAO’s ALMA web pages: http://www.almaobservatory.org/

NRAO’s ALMA web pages and Early Science press release: http://www.nrao.edu/index.php/about/facilities/alma / http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2011/almaearlysci/

NAOJ’s ALMA web pages: http://alma.mtk.nao.ac.jp/e/

List of the 112 highest priority projects selected for ALMA Early Science, including titles, investigators, and short descriptions (PDF): http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1137/eso1137.pdf

Images, Text, Credits: ALMA (ESO / NAOJ / NRAO). Visible light image: the NASA / ESA Hubble Space Telescope / ALMA (ESO / NAOJ / NRAO). Visible light image: ESO / Alberto Milani / IAU and Sky & Telescope / ESA / Hubble and Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgements: Davide De Martin (ESA / Hubble) / W. Garnier (ALMA) / Videos: ALMA (ESO / NAOJ / NRAO) / A. Fujii / Digitized Sky Survey 2 / Visible light image: the NASA / ESA Hubble Space Telescope / ESO. Music: John Dyson (from the album Moonwind).

Cheers, Orbiter.ch