Media Advisory: virtual press conference on start of ALMA operations

Together with its international partners from North America and East Asia (NRAO and NAOJ), and with the Joint ALMA Observatory in Chile, ESO is inviting media to an online press conference on Monday 3 October 2011 at 10:30 CEST (08:30 UT).

Early Science observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the largest ground-based astronomical project in existence, are planned to start over the weekend.

Presentations about the excitement surrounding the planned start of Early Science, including the latest news and images from the ALMA project, will be given. Journalists will be offered the opportunity for discussion with scientists from the Joint ALMA Observatory and the ALMA partners.

The speakers (to be confirmed) are:

• Lars-Åke Nyman, Joint ALMA Observatory
• Crystal Brogan, National Radio Astronomy Observatory
• Leonardo Testi, European Southern Observatory
• Sachiko K. Okumura, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

To participate in the teleconference and receive additional material, bona-fide members of the media must get accredited by contacting Mathieu Isidro by email ([email protected]).

You will need access to a computer with a recent version of Adobe Flash Player installed, and an adequately fast Internet connection. Further information will be provided to the accredited reporters.

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international astronomy facility, is a partnership between Europe, Japan and North America in cooperation with the Republic of Chile.  ALMA is funded in Europe by the European Southern Observatory (ESO), in Japan by the National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) in cooperation with the Academia Sinica in Taiwan and in North America by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the National Science Council of Taiwan (NSC). ALMA construction and operations are led on behalf of Europe by ESO, on behalf of Japan by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and on behalf of North America by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), which is managed by Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI).

Courtesy of European Southern Observatory

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