Configurations of the six-antenna array

The six-element array can be arranged in the following configurations:

Conf	Stations
A	W27	E68	N46	E04	E24	N29
B	W27	E23	N46	W12	E12	N20
C	W12	E10	N17	W09	E04	N11
D	W08	E03	N11	W05	N02	N07

The general properties of these configurations are:

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A alone is well suited for mapping or size measurements of very compact, strong sources. It provides a resolution of $0.8''$ at 100GHz, $\sim$0.35$''$ at 230GHz.

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B alone yields $\sim$1.2$''$ at 100GHz and, in combination with A provides an angular resolution of $\sim$1.0$''$ at 100GHz. It is mainly used for relatively strong sources.

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C provides a fairly complete coverage of the uv-plane (low sidelobe level) and is well adapted to combine with D for low angular resolution studies ($\sim$3.5$''$ at 100GHz, $\sim$1.5$''$ at 230GHz) and with B for higher resolution ($\sim$1.7$''$ at 100GHz, $\sim$0.7$''$ at 230GHz). C alone is also well suited for snapshot and size measurement experiments.

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D alone is best suited for deep integration and coarse mapping experiments (resolution $\sim 5''$ at 100GHz). This configuration provides both the highest sensitivity and the lowest atmospheric phase noise.

The four configurations can be used in different combinations to achieve complementary sampling of the uv-plane, and to improve on angular resolution and sensitivity. Mosaicing is usually done with D or CD, but the combination BCD can also be requested for high resolution mosaics. Check the ANY bullet in the proposal form if the scientific goals can be reached with any of the four configurations or their subsets.

Please consult the documentation An Introduction to the IRAM interferometer (../IRAMFR/PDB/docu.html) and the IRAM Newsletter No. 63 (August 4th., 2005, accessible on the web at ../IRAMFR/ARN/aug05/aug05.html) for further details.