2013 News

A multi-year study of the Whirlpool galaxy (M51) has shaken up astronomers’ views of the properties of giant molecular clouds. The new study, which mapped 1,500 such clouds, shows that, instead, they are embedded in a kind of fog of molecular hydrogen much more dense than anyone expected, which permeates the whole of the galactic disc. Pressure exerted by this fog is crucial in determining whether or not new stars will form within the clouds. The study made extensive use of the millimeter telescopes of IRAM, the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique.

While the scientific world held its breath in the final days before the perihelion passage of comet ISON, several astronomer teams made extensive use of IRAM telescopes to follow the event. This was a unique opportunity to investigate the composition of a remnant of the formation of the solar system that would be exposed to very high temperatures, up to 2500 degrees at perihelion...

The IRAM program committee convened in Grenoble on October 22 and 23 to evaluate the proposals submitted for the winter 2013/2014 scheduling period. The discussions were organized in 2 panels which were chaired by Christian Henkel (MPIfR, Bonn) and Valentin Bujarrabal (OAN, Alcala de Henares). As usual, the proposals were classified A (accepted), B (backup), and C (rejected).

In order to assist prospective users in the preparation and submission of their proposals, the IRAM ARC node is organizing a workshop on Thursday November 14th at IRAM Grenoble. This workshop will take place immediately after the two-days French "Action Spécifique ALMA" meeting organized in Grenoble on Nov. 12th and 13th. The program of the workshop will include..

In April 2013, the assembling of first new NOEMA antenna has started in the large assembly and maintenance hall on the Plateau de Bure.

Covering the period from December 2013 to May 2014, this year’s second proposal deadline for IRAM facilities will be on Thursday September 12, 2013. As usual, the submission facility will be opened about three weeks before the deadline.

An international team of astronomers has spotted a massive and rare merging of two sub-millimeter galaxies (SMGs), located about 11 billion light-year away, or a time when our universe was about 3 billion years old. The duo is colliding to form a massive galaxy roughly 10 times the size of the Milky Way.

Astronomers have spotted the most efficient maker of stars yet, a galaxy undergoing a rare phase of evolution.

The IRAM program committee convened in Grenoble on April 10 and 11 to evaluate the proposals submitted for the summer 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).

Herschel has discovered a galaxy in the early universe making stars more than 2000 times faster than our own Milky Way. Located 28 billion light years from Earth, it is observed at a time when the Universe was less than a billion years old. Its mere existence challenges galaxy evolution theories.

As of 1st of April 2013, the new director of IRAM, Karl-Friedrich Schuster, and the new IRAM deputy director Frédéric Gueth have started their duties.

Covering the period from June 2013 to November 2013, this year’s first proposal deadline for IRAM facilities will be on Thursday March 14, 2013 at 17:00 (UT + 1 hour). As usual, the submission facility will be opened about three weeks before the deadline.

A French team of scientists from the Institute of Planetology and of Astrophysics in Grenoble (IPAG, Joseph Fourier University / CNRS) and from the Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology (IRAP, University of Toulouse / CNRS) has just announced the presence of formamide in the gas surrounding IRAS 16293-2422, a sun-like forming star in the Rho Ophiuchi nebula. This discovery, published on January 16th, 2013 in the Astrophysical Journal Letter (ApJ 763, L38), could represent an important step in our understanding of the origin of life on Earth.