ALMA Announces Observatory Projects for Configurations 8 and 9

The ALMA Observatory announces five filler programs that have been approved on the main array. The programs are designed to fill the gaps in the 12-m Array observing schedule at low frequencies in Configurations 8 and 9, based on input  from scientists at the Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) and the ALMA Regional Centers (ARCs). The proposed programs were reviewed by the Observatory Scientist and the Department of Science Operations head, and approved by the ALMA Director.

As described in the Principles of the ALMA Proposal Review Process https://almascience.org/documents-and-tools/cycle9/principles-review-process, these Observatory Projects were initiated after verifying that the gaps in the observing queue could not be filled by any Principal Investigator (PI) submitted proposal. The Observatory Projects will be awarded Grade C and the data will have no proprietary period. While submitted as DDT projects, these projects will not be charged against the 5% allocation of DDT time.

The data from the proposals will be quality assessed by the JAO and released through the ALMA Archive with no proprietary period. Observing priority will be given to any remaining PI science projects and activities to commission new capabilities on the array. The release of data in Band 1 will be dependent on the progress of the ongoing commissioning activities. The release of any Observatory Project data will be preceded by an announcement on the Science Portal.

The approved projects are:

• 2022.A.00032.S : 12CO and Band 3 continuum 5-pc-scale imaging of molecular clouds in the Antennae galaxies
• 2022.A.00034.S: Band 3 observations of a super-deep 1'x1' field in Hubble Deep Field South
• 2022.A.00036.S: Band 3 high-spectral resolution survey of HL Tau
• 2022.A.00035.S: Band 1 Continuum and CS line observations of HD 163296
• 2022.A.00037.S: Band 1 Continuum and CS line observations of HL Tau