IRAM news

November 29, 2012
ALMA welcomes Pierre Cox as new Director

IRAM Director Pierre Cox has been appointed as the new Director of ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array based in the Chile. He will take up his duties as ALMA Director on April 01, 2013.

November 23, 2012
The discovery of a new interstellar molecule confirms the existence of a petroleum refinery in our galaxy

An international team of scientists has just detected a new interstellar molecule in our galaxy. This molecule, called the propynylidyne ion (C3H+), is part of the hydrocarbon family, which composes one of the major energy sources on Earth, petroleum and natural gas. The discovery of this molecule at the heart of the famous Horsehead Nebula in the Constellation of Orion confirms that this nebula is an active petroleum refinery for the interstellar medium.

November 14, 2012
Winter 2012/2013 PC ratings are online

The IRAM program committee convened in Grenoble on October 25 and 26 to evaluate the proposals submitted for the winter 2012/2013 scheduling period. The discussions were organized in 2 panels which were chaired by Henrik Beuther (MPIA Heidelberg) and Eckhard Sturm (MPE Garching). As usual, the proposals were classified A (accepted), B (backup), and C (rejected).

November 8, 2012
IRAM 7th 30m Summer School 2013 - News

The 7th IRAM 30m Summer School will be held on September 13-20, 2013 in Pradollano (Spain). The Summer School will combine lectures on millimeter astronomy with hands-on experience with the IRAM 30m telescope. Participants will form small work groups to observe a diverse set of objects of the local universe, ranging from distant galaxies...

October 9, 2012
First announcement: 7th IRAM 30m Summer School

The 7th IRAM 30m Summer School will be held on September 20-27, 2013 in Pradollano (Spain). The school is aimed at attracting new astrophysicists to current and future single-dish mm-, submm-, and far-infrared telescopes. More information will follow soon!

September 28, 2012
A la recherche des molécules complexes et prébiotiques dans les systèmes planétaires en formation

Une équipe internationale vient d’observer pour la première fois la molécule de cyanoacetylène (HC3N) dans des disques protoplanétaires. C’est dans ces disques de gaz et de poussières entourant des jeunes étoiles que les planètes naissent. HC3N est non seulement la molécule la plus complexe détectée à ce jour dans un disque protoplanétaire, mais elle est surtout l’un des précurseurs des molécules organiques complexes, nécessaire à l'apparition de la vie.

September 10, 2012
8th IRAM Interferometry School - Participants list and scientific program now online!

The participants list and the scientific program are now online! The 8th IRAM millimeter interferometry school will be held October 15th-19th 2012 at the IRAM headquarters (Grenoble, France). It is intended for students, post-docs and scientists who want to acquire a good knowledge of interferometry and data reduction techniques at millimeter wavelengths.

July 31, 2012
Call for Proposals winter semester 2012/2013

Covering the period from December 2012 to May 2013, this year’s second proposal deadline for IRAM facilities will be on Thursday September 13, 2012. As usual, the submission facility will be opened about three weeks before the deadline.

July 5, 2012
Les premiers pas d'une micro-étoile

Une équipe internationale vient de découvrir la toute première étape de la formation d'une naine brune. Plusieurs centaines de ces naines brunes sont aujourd'hui connues mais jusqu'ici jamais il n'avait été possible d'observer le début de la formation de ces micro-étoiles. Grâce à l'interféromètre du Plateau de Bure, les scientifiques ont pu localiser une condensation de gaz et de poussières dont la température est à peine 10 degrés au-dessus du zéro absolu et la masse seulement 2% de celle du Soleil...

June 14, 2012
Mystery of galaxy HDF850.1 finally resolved

Astronomers pinpoint elusive galaxy in the young universe after decade-long hunt – and find it's not alone! An international team of astronomers has managed for the first time to determine the distance of the galaxy HDF850.1, well-known among astronomers as being one of the most productive star-forming galaxies in the observable universe.

May 8, 2012
Summer 2012 PC ratings are now online!

The IRAM program committee convened in Granada on April 24 and 25 to evaluate the proposals submitted for the summer 2012 scheduling period. The discussions were organized in 2 panels which were chaired by Henrik Beuther (MPIA Heidelberg) and Eckhard Sturm (MPE Garching). As usual, the proposals were classified A (accepted), B (backup), and C (rejected).

March 29, 2012
Astronomers detect vast amounts of gas and dust around black hole in early universe

Using the IRAM Plateau de Bure array of millimetre-wave telescopes in the French Alps, a team of European astronomers from Germany, the UK and France has discovered a large reservoir of gas and dust in a galaxy that surrounds the most distant supermassive black hole known. Light from the galaxy, called J1120+0641, has taken so long to reach us that the galaxy is seen as it was only 740 million years after the Big Bang, when the universe was only 1/18th of its current age...

March 19, 2012
Spectacular images of the IRAM Plateau de Bure Observatory

During a visit of the IRAM observatory, DiVertiCimes, an association of Grenoble photographers took spectacular images of the Plateau de Bure antennas. Have a look at our image gallery!

March 13, 2012
8th IRAM Millimeter Interferometry School 2012

Registration for the 8th IRAM Millimeter Interferometry School is now open. It will be held October 15th-19th 2012 at the IRAM headquarters (Grenoble, France) and is intended for students, post-docs and scientists who want to acquire a good knowledge of interferometry and data reduction techniques at millimeter wavelengths. The program includes lectures on...

February 13, 2012
Call for Proposals summer semester 2012

The call is now online! This year’s first proposal deadline for IRAM facilities will be on March 15, 2012. As usual, the submission facility will be opened about three weeks before the deadline.

January 16, 2012
Cold core chemistry unravelled

A team of astronomers used the IRAM 30m telescope to study the chemistry of the dense molecular cores embedded in the Pipe nebula. They were able to classify the evolutionary stage of the dense molecular cores, which are the previous step to forming stars, as a function of the molecules that compose them. On the basis of this analysis the astronomers discovered a dense core...

January 10, 2012
NEW: The IRAM Large Program Archive

The IRAM Large Program Archive (ILPA) is the collection point for research carried out at the IRAM observatories in the framework of a Large Program. The goal of ILPA is to provide images, calibrated data cubes and uv data from the 30-m telescope and the Plateau de Bure interferometer, and make these science products available to the astronomical community...

2012 News