Submillimeter Array Call for Standard Observing Proposals

Mark Gurwell
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

We wish to draw your attention to the latest Call for Standard Observing Proposals for observations with the Submillimeter Array (SMA). This call is for the 2020B semester with observing period 16 November 2020 - 15 May 2021.

SMA is a reconfigurable interferometric array of eight 6-m antennas on Maunakea jointly built and operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics. The array operates in the 230, 345, and 400 GHz bands.

The SMA configurations include antenna separations ranging between 9 m and 508 m. The small antennas allow access to low spatial frequencies (with projected baselines as short as 6-m) in the sub-compact configuration, and at the other extreme, the finest angular resolution with the very extended configuration at 345 GHz is ~ 0.25". The compact and extended configurations complete the range. The characteristics, performance and sky coverage of the SMA are both similar and complementary to those of the stand-alone Atacama Compact Array component of ALMA (the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array), while providing full access to the northern sky.

The heart of the SMA backend is the SWARM correlator, now able to process up to 12 GHz bandwidth (IF coverage of 4 to 16 GHz) for each receiver in each sideband, for a total of 48 GHz bandwidth, at a uniform 140 kHz resolution. We are offering this new expanded coverage in 2020B as a shared-risk opportunity.

For more details visit the proposal information web page.

IMPORTANT DATES FOR STANDARD OBSERVING PROPOSALS

• Submissions open: 13 Aug 2020
• Submissions close: 10 Sep 2020 20:00 UTC = 10 Sep 2020 16:00 EDT = 11 Sep 2020 04:00 CST (Taiwan)

Questions or comments regarding the Standard Observing Proposals can be addressed to [email protected].