A network of expert astronomers at the University of Manchester will continue to help UK scientists get the most out of the world’s most powerful millimetre-wave telescope, the Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA). ALMA sits 5,000 metres up in the Chilean desert and can image star and planet formation in unprecedented detail, but its data is complex. Many users are not specialists in interferometry—the technique ALMA uses—and need hands-on support to turn raw telescope signals into publishable images. The UK Node provides that support, from proposal writing through to advanced imaging, and runs workshops to train the community. It also supplies computing hardware and develops new software tools. Without this dedicated help, UK astronomers would struggle to exploit ALMA’s full capabilities, especially for non-standard observations like ultra-high-resolution imaging. The impact is clear: in the last three observing cycles, UK-led teams secured 26% of all European observing time on ALMA. This is fundamental science—it does not have an immediate practical application—but it directly addresses core questions about how stars and planets form, and past investments in such astronomy have repeatedly reshaped our understanding of the universe.
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This proposal is for funding of the UK Node of the European ALMA Regional Centre, which will continue to provide the UK ALMA community with direct user support, training and specialized software for experiment design, scheduling, data analysis and astrophysical interpretation. The Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) is transformational, and is revolutionising astronomy in the millimetre and sub-millimetre band with angular resolution, sensitivity, imaging quality and spectral coverage orders of magnitude beyond what available only a few years ago. The range of scientific applications is very broad, stretching from comets to cosmology, but ALMA's key strength is the detailed imaging of the processes of star and planet formation in our own galaxy and in the Universe at large, directly addressing many of the key themes of STFC's astronomical vision. ALMA operates at a very dry high (5000m) site in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, close to the edge of the radio atmospheric window. The telescope has been very successful in automating much of the data processing for standard modes of operation, producing acceptable images approaching publishable quality for astronomers who are not experts in interferometry. However, for full exploitation of science extraction from advanced imaging many users require and appreciate additional support from skilled interferometry experts. In addition, ALMA operations can at times be challenging, especially non-standard modes such as for ultra-high angular resolution imaging with physically extended telescope configurations in the shortest wavelength bands. The operating plan for ALMA devolves all user interaction and support to three regional centres (ARCs) in US, Japan and Europe. The European model is a distributed one, with a central coordinating Node based at ESO in Garching and all face-to-face user support and more advanced data analysis facilities and enhanced imaging provided by a network of individual Nodes funded at the national level. In addition to the ESO Node there a 7 regional Nodes across Europe with UK ALMA user support being provided by the UK Node housed at the University of Manchester. The UK Node provides user support tailored to the requirements of individual UK ALMA users to assist in maximising their scientific return on ALMA programmes. It also provides support to all UK ALMA users for the complete set of elements for their ALMA science programmes from proposal preparation through quality assurance assessment of their data (especially for those programmes involving non-standard operational modes), to advanced imaging and maximisation of science extraction. The Node also provides regular workshops to both enhance science extraction through advanced data processing/imaging, and ensures the distribution of information regarding new ALMA developments and capabilities. The UK Node also provides IT hardware (computing power and data storage) to simultaneously support several UK-led ALMA projects (through both face-to-face and remote support); including the hosting of large ALMA programmes and programmes for international consortia. The UK Node is involved in the development of new and enhanced software tools to assist UK ALMA users in their project planning and execution - for both new programmes and archival access projects. UK Node personnel participate in ALMA development and EOC (Extension and Optimisation of Capabilities) commissioning programmes to utilise existing UK Node skills to deliver such programmes, and in addition provide enhanced support for UK ALMA users with regard to new ALMA developments. The UK ALMA user community has benefitted from the expert support provided by the UK Node and has grown to be a major user of ALMA. In the last 3 years of ALMA operations (Cycles 4-6) successful UK ALMA users have been awarded 26% of all the approved European time.
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