Radio Interferometry tutorial 2023
Dr. Beth Jones, Dr. Stefanie Mühle
(https://xkcd.com/1922/)
Join the gold rush in the "Golden Age of Astronomy"!
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the world-leading interferometer in the mm-/submm-wavelength range, produces hundreds of gigabytes of astronomical data of unprecedented sensitivity and resolution during each night of regular operations, turning the public ALMA archive into a goldmine for those knowledgeable in the art and craft of radio interferometry.
The Master-level course "Radio Interferometry: Methods and Science" offers hands-on training in the data reduction and analysis of radio interferometric data for Master students, PhD students and more senior astronomers.
After a brief review of the basic concepts of radio interferometry, the participants are guided through the various steps necessary to create fully calibrated data cubes from interferometric raw data using ALMA raw data as an example. In the second part of the course, the participants learn how to construct data cubes and maps from the calibrated data and how to analyze their interferometric data.
Using the versatile Common Astronomy Software Applications (CASA) package, the participants can practice the individual steps on the demo data set while watching the tutorial and practice their new knowledge with a second data set.
How to participate
In the summer semester 2023, radio interferometric data reduction is offered as a self-teaching course. It has a limited number of places and is open to master students of the universities of Bonn and Cologne on a "first come, fist served" basis.
Students in Bonn and Cologne:
If you are a Master student at the university of Bonn or Cologne, you can register for this self-teaching course, until all places are filled. Please note that unlike in previous years, there are no credit points to be earned this year. When the course is offered as a regular course in the Program "Master of Science Astrophysics" again, the knowledge gained in this self-teaching course can be applied directly towards earning credit points (4 CP).
For equal opportunity regarding computing ressources, the German ARC node offers access to one of their powerful compute servers to all students who take this course. Account request forms will be sent to all registered participants.
Other participants:
PhD students, postdocs, more senior astronomers and scientists of related fields are welcome to contact the organizers regarding access to the material for their own professional studies.
Logistics:
Time & date: |
self-study course + in-person tutorials at regular intervals |
Location: |
tbd |
Contact: |
Dr. Stefanie Mühle, muehle at astro.uni-bonn.de |