Newsletter from Onsala Space Observatory |
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Onsala Space Observatory
Astronomy newsletter | May 2023 | From the director
It was great to meet many colleagues at the Sweden SKA Science Day in Stockholm in February. Face-to-face attendance at the meeting was over 60 people, with others joining remotely - it's inspiring to see such strong interest in the SKA from Swedish scientists. We heard talks describing SKA science and current results from SKA precursors, plus numerous contributed talks covering science topics from H I galaxy science to evolved stars. Planned first access to SKA data is coming sooner than many think, already in 2026 already. That's less than three years from now! At the other end of the radio-mm spectral window, ALMA is approaching ten years of operation. It's is now a fully mature instrument, producing excellent science right now as described in these pages, but new possibilities await as we look forward to ALMA’s expanded capabilities after the completion of the coming ALMA2030 upgrade project. John Conway | |
Available for EVN proposals: the uGMRT, the Onsala 25-m, and the Effelsberg 100 m telescopes (Credits: NCRA; Chalmers/Anna-Lena Lundqvist; Raimond Spekking/CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons) |
Calls for proposalsProposals are invited for the European VLBI Network (EVN). The EVN is a network of radio telescopes located primarily in Europe and Asia. The next deadline is 1 June 2023. For this submission deadline, the 30 dishes of the Upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT; pictured left) are being made available for L-band VLBI observations in concert with the EVN on a best-effort basis.
Director’s discretionary time on APEX, the Onsala 20-m and LOFAR. Proposals for observations on director's discretionary time (DDT) with APEX, the Onsala 20 m telescope, and single station observations with the Swedish LOFAR station in Onsala can be submitted at any time. In particular, APEX DDT proposals for objects with right ascensions in the interval 0-10 h have a good chance to be accepted. The remaining Swedish observing periods on APEX in 2023 are 10-14 July and 27-31 October. For more information, see the OSO Calls for proposals web page.
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Onsala 20 m telescope
Calls for proposals for the 20 m telescope are issued once per year. The next call for proposals will be communicated in October 2023. The Onsala 20 m telescope in Sweden is equipped with receivers which provide continuous frequency coverage in the ranges 18-50, 67-87 and 85-116 GHz with 4 GHz IF bandpass, dual polarisations and full mutual sideband rejection (<−13 dB). We welcome proposals for large programmes (spanning more than one semester and/or requiring >~ 500 hours). If you do not have a local collaborator to support the observations, please contact telescope scientist Henrik Olofsson henrik.olofsson@chalmers.se before submitting the proposal. | | | APEX proposals
Calls for proposals for APEX are issued once per year. The next call for proposals will be communicated in January 2024. APEX is a 12 m diameter submillimetre telescope in Chile. The receivers currently used on Swedish time are the heterodyne receivers SEPIA (frequency ranges: 159-211 GHz, 272-376 GHz and 578-738 GHz) and nFLASH (frequency ranges: 200-270 GHz and 385-500 GHz). Bolometer arrays are not available. Proposals for Swedish time on APEX must have a PI with a Swedish affiliation. | | | | | SKA science meeting in Stockholm February 2023, here with supernova scientist Deepika Venkattu and chair Michael Lindqvist. (Credit: R. Cumming)
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SKA update: science day
With full membership in sight and contracts being signed, 2023 is a big
year for Sweden in the SKA. The first national SKA science meeting of the SKAO era was held on February 2, and brought together
more than 60 people in person at Stockholm University, with more joining
online.
“There is quite a bit of
excitement in Sweden for the SKA. That shows through the build-up of the
Science Regional Centre, and the growing collaboration and communication
between institutes in Gothenburg, Stockholm, Uppsala and elsewhere,” said Onsala astronomer Kelley Hess.
International guests Leah Morabito, Jason Hessels and Robert Braun showcased the
potential of the SKA telescopes and how MeerKAT, LOFAR and other pathfinder
facilities are taking us there.
The message was echoed in
presentations by early-career scientists. Alexandra Le
Reste (Stockholm) presented her work on starburst galaxies and the epoch of reionisation.
“I think we're on the edge
of something really big. The observations that it's going to enable are going
to bring us so much more information about the Universe, especially the early
Universe,” she said.
For a full report, see an article in the next issue of the SKAO's magazine Contact, or see the SKAO's video
report
Sweden gears up for SKA science. To be sure of updates, sign up to the SKA/LOFAR mailing list. Robert Cumming & John Conway |
Science News Do you have recent science highlights related to telescopes operated or supported by Onsala Space Observatory? Let us know and we'll share in future newsletters!
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Missing link methanimine in IC 860In the opaque heart of the galaxy IC 860, the molecule methanimine (CH2NH) shows how similar galaxies known as CON galaxies are to hot core protostars, hinting that galaxies like these could be important sources of complex chemistry. | | |
Star formation in CO and [C I] with ALMA
Rizzo et al (2023) present the ALMA-ALPAKA survey. The results give new insights into the cold gas kinematics of star-forming galaxies at z = 0.5 - 3.5.
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Colliding outflows from a protostar Using ALMA, Iván Toledano Juárez et al (2023) present evidence of colliding outflows from the protostar L1448–C, using ALMA measurements in CO and SiO. | | |
Polarisation sanity check
Can you trust masers to trace magnetic fields correctly? Looking at polarised molecular lines in the post-AGB star OH 17.7-2.0, Vlemmings & Tafoya (2023) think that you can.
| | | M 87*: shadow and jet togetherThe Onsala 20 m took part in observations of the supermassive black hole in Messier 87 with the 13 other telescopes in the global millimetre array GMVA. The resulting image, released in April and featured widely in Swedish and international media, shows for the first time how the base of a jet connects with the matter swirling around the supermassive black hole imaged first by the Event Horizon Telescope. The paper by Lu et al. (2023) is published in Nature. | | |
AI for data analysis - starting with finding galaxies
Also in February, SKA science kicked off a seminar series for
Chalmers AI Research Centre in Gothenburg. Onsala's
Carmen Toribio and Henrik Håkansson (Fraunhofer-Chalmers Centre for industrial mathematics) told how they use AI to find galaxies in simulated SKA images. CHAIR is a community and collaboration space at Chalmers for researchers with a shared interest in AI, and they also have a CHAIR newsletter you can subscribe to.
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After 48
days of suspension due to a cyberattack, ALMA resumed observations just before
Christmas, after 48 days of suspension due to a cyberattack. In May the community submitted 1680 proposals to the Cycle 10 Call
for Proposals, requesting a total of 29 000 observing hours on the 12-m array, the most time ever requested in a single cycle. The number of Large
Programs submitted, 44, is also a record. Joint Proposals with the JWST, VLA
and VLT were offered for the first time, and 42 of those were submitted. An upcoming conference in Puerto Varas, Chile, will celebrate ALMA's achievements, present
latest findings, and discuss future advancements (ALMA at 10 years: Past, Present and Future,
4-8
Dec 2023). |
The meeting was held at the new visitor centre in Onsala. (Credit: D. Tafoya) |
Here in Onsala, the Nordic
ARC node hosted a summer event in honour of ALMA's first ten years of achievements. Presentations by local
researchers showcased ALMA's impact and its upcoming Wideband Sensitivity
Upgrade was discussed (read about the upgrade plans in Carpenter et al 2022 on ArXiv).
For support using ALMA or the ALMA Science Archive: write to us at contact@nordic-alma.se, or visit nordic-alma.se. You can follow the European ARC Network on Facebook and on Twitter. Carmen Toribio
Daniel Tafoya, Chalmers, on behalf of the Nordic ARC node |
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Support at Onsala Space Observatory
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Onsala Space Observatory offers a wide variety of
support to Swedish astronomers. We host the Nordic ALMA node, and offer support in several
other areas.
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Data Reduction: We support the reduction
of all types of radio/(sub-)mm interferometric
and single-dish observations. We welcome
visitors who need reduction support and offer
them the use of our National Facility
Computing Infrastructure (NaFCI) for
reduction of large data sets. Specialised Courses: We will be able to
assist with specialised lectures on for example,
interferometry, radio/(sub-)mm data analysis
and/or the use of National Facility instruments.
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Student projects: We also encourage visits
by students who want to learn how to reduce
and analyse their radio/(sub-)mm observations.
Workshop/School support: Similarly,
we can assist in planning and lecturing at
schools or workshops, when these include
topics related to National Facility activities and
instruments. This includes but is not limited to,
for example, radio/(sub-)mm interferometry
and single dish observing and analysis, ALMA,
APEX, LOFAR, SKA and EVN, plus our small SALSA telescopes for schools, students and the public. Seminars: National facility staff are also
available for scientific and technical seminars
on the aforementioned instruments. For news about SKA and LOFAR, sign up to Sweden's LOFAR/SKA mailing list. Michael Lindqvist, Chalmers
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Tell your colleagues about us! Onsala Space Observatory Astronomy Newsletter informs the astronomical community of current and planned instruments, support opportunities, and scientific highlights. It's published twice per year. Please encourage your colleagues to join us! Signing up is the best way of ensuring the newsletter gets to your inbox (and not to your spam folder!). Robert Cumming, editor, robert.cumming@chalmers.se
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