The end of the winter semester as well as the first two months of the current summer semester have been suffering from quite mediocre weather conditions on Plateau de Bure. We moved the array into its B configuration on March 10 after a two-weeks period in a configuration intermediate between A and B that still offered the longest baselines of the A configuration (up to 760m). Two projects requesting the A-configuration and three projects requesting the B configuration could not be finished and will be deferred to the upcoming winter semester. The C configuration was scheduled after March 29 and the interferometer was switched back to the most compact configuration D on May 1st. The spring VLBI session took place from May 8 to 13 with the interferometer working without technical problems and in good weather conditions. Since May 14th the array is observing with 5 antennas in D configuration. The current antenna maintenance period is foreseen to end in October. At the end of this period it is foreseen to equip the reflector of antenna 4 with new aluminum panels replacing the current mix of painted carbon fiber and Media Lario panels.
As far as A-rated projects are concerned, we still hope to bring many of these to completion before the end of the summer semester. B-rated projects are likely to be observed only if they fall in a favorable LST range. We remind users of the Plateau de Bure interferometer that B-rated proposals and A-rated time fillers which are not started before the end of the summer period have to be resubmitted.
Global VLBI observations, which include the array in the 3mm phased-array mode, are planned from October 9 to 15.
Investigators who wish to check the status of their project may consult the interferometer schedule on the Web at ../PDBI/ongoing.html. This page is updated daily.