Dear all,
the Institute of Astronomy and Space Sciences (IA) in collaboration with the University of Manchester and the RadioNet consortium is glad to announce that the online workshop “Exploiting Archives for Radio Astronomy in the SKA era.” will take place on the 23rd, 24th, 25th of November on Zoom platform (only morning sessions).

Astrophysics is without doubt entering at present the century of data. Machine learning and data analysis technologies have already become an integral part of daily life, with data scientists building more and more sophisticated systems to select and examine large volumes of data.
The radio community is not extraneous to such a problem since the amount of data available in current and future facilities is growing at a rate that will impose new approaches to the concepts of ‘user support’ and ‘interface efficiency’.

In this context, the main goal of this workshop is to give an overview of the capabilities, development, and user support for archival research in the main worldwide radio facilities.
The registration is open through the IA website until the 15th of November.

LOC:
Ciro Pappalardo, Jose Afonso, Israel Matute

SOC:
Ciro Pappalardo, Jose Afonso, Israel Matute, Alasdair Thomson, Robert Beswick, Anita Richards

Dear PACErs,
on the next Thursday, at 9 o’clock Portugal time, there will be the ALMA European Virtual Assembly, to update the European ALMA users about the new plans for the telescope, with is now slowly restarting (I would say more ‘rebooting’ as It was really shutdown).
All the IA scientists are invited to participate, there will be also the possibility to ask questions directly related to your project, or any other doubt.
Reserve the date, and see the details at this link.

A design study for a ground-breaking radio telescope has been recently approved by The European Commission, through the Horizon 2020 program. The international consortium is led by the University of Oslo, with scientists at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)’s UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC) in Edinburgh

The Atacama Large-Aperture Submillimeter Telescope or AtLAST, for short, could provide astronomers with everything from a comprehensive catalogue of the chemicals constituents of galaxies in the earliest Universe – taking a ‘molecular fingerprint’ of primaeval galaxies.

It could be operational in the 2030s and will be a single dish submillimeter telescope, measuring 50m in diameter – enabling new discoveries that cannot be achieved with any current or planned astronomical facilities. It will complement the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), and for this reason, since the beginning of the project, PACE scientists have been involved in different activities aiming to raise the attention of the international community on such a project.

Six working groups will now consider different aspects of the design requirements, making a long-term plan for the financial and governmental structure of AtLAST.

The COVID-19 crisis has continued to affect the global community, including ALMA users and staff. ALMA operations remain suspended, as announced on March 20. Under these difficult and unprecedented circumstances, the ALMA Director, with support from all Executives, has decided to suspend the submission of Cycle 8 proposals until further notice.

We appreciate the community has worked hard on new science ideas for Cycle 8, even under such difficult conditions. We also realize the work the community has done in generating an exciting Cycle 7 observing program. At this time, our first priority is the health and well-being of the global community.
New timelines for Cycle 7 and Cycle 8 will be announced on the Science Portal in the coming weeks as the global situation evolves.

These times offer unprecedented stress and challenges for our community members and their families. Our thoughts go out to all those affected by the current situation. The PACE will continue to provide support to the Portuguese community. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns.