next up previous
Next: News from the Plateau Up: IRAM Newsletter 70 (February 2008) Previous: Travel funds for European

Subsections

Call for Observing Proposals on the 30m Telescope

Summary

Proposals for three types of receivers will be considered for the coming summer semester:

  1. the observatory's set of four dual polarization heterodyne receivers centered at wavelengths of 3, 2, 1.3, and 1.1 mm.
  2. the 9 pixel dual-polarization heterodyne receiver array, HERA, operating at 1.3 mm wavelength
  3. The MAMBO-2 bolometer array with 117 pixels operating at 1.2 mm; the smaller MAMBO-1 array with 37 pixels is kept as a backup.

Emphasis will be put on observations at the longer wavelengths. About 2100 hours of observing time will be available, considerably less than in previous summer semesters (see below).

The main news relevant for the coming summer semester are described here. Details of proposal formalities, instrumentation, observing modes, and estimation of observing time are described on the IRAM web site.

What is new?

The construction of the next generation heterodyne receivers for Pico Veleta (NGPV) is progressing well. Based on a recent in-depth evaluation, the installation is foreseen later this year. The arrival of the NGPV receiver implies a profound refurbishment of the Nasmyth cabin. Installation and commissioning of the NGPV receiver will take 4 weeks. The Nasmyth cabin optics and the other receivers, HERA and the bolometers, are not affected at this stage.

An effort was made with the NGPV receiver to keep the scientifically very interesting frequency range below 83 GHz. Due to uncertainties associated with local oscillator procurement, it is presently not clear how much of this range can be made available when operation with the NGPV receiver starts. We therefore recommend to astronomers to propose urgent low frequency programs now.

The telescope's new control system is by now well worn in and globally performs as well as the old control system. A host of new features are planned to be introduced this summer (see the NCS web site).

Remote observing is available from the IRAM offices in Granada and Grenoble, and from the remote stations in Madrid and Bonn. A remote station in Paris may also become available soon.

The full Call for Proposals is available on the IRAM web site.



Clemens THUM & Rainer MAUERSBERGER


next up previous
Next: News from the Plateau Up: IRAM Newsletter 70 (February 2008) Previous: Travel funds for European