243rd American Astronomical Meeting

New Orleans Convention Center | New Orleans, Louisiana | January 7-11, 2024

The following sessions and opportunities at the winter January 2024 American Astronomical Society (AAS 243) meeting will bring the best in radio astronomy to New Orleans.

The Block Schedule meeting program for the conference is now available.

Visit the NRAO Exhibit during the conference to pick up some giveaways and learn about opportunities and programs like the Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade for ALMA, science with the VLA and VLBA, and ngVLA development.

See the meeting website for conference details.

243rd American Astronomical Meeting - New Orleans Convention Center | New Orleans, Louisiana | January 7-11, 2024

ALMA as a high-z powerhouse: the impact of the Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade

The NAASC will host a special session at the upcoming Winter AAS Meeting in New Orleans, held on Monday January 8, 2024, 10am to 11:30am (Central Time). This special session will present high-profile results obtained through ALMA programs in different areas of high-z studies – including large programs, current and expected synergies with high-sensitivity facilities, and the expected yield from ALMA observations after different phases of the Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade (WSU)are achieved. The session will include 4 invited talks by J. Yang (U. Arizona), A. Long (UT Austin), J. Spilker (Texas A&M) and D. Burgarella (LAM Marseille), and a short general presentation of the WSU.

Abstract:

In recent years, the use of ALMA for the characterization of high-z sources (galaxies, AGNs and quasars) has considerably expanded beyond the initial goal to detect molecular emission in Milky Way analogs at z = 3. ALMA will soon acquire a new and transformational role in the field with the implementation of the ongoing Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade (WSU), which will upgrade ALMA’s digital path, correlator, and the first three wideband receivers by the end of this decade, with additional receiver bands to follow. The current impact of ALMA is demonstrated by an increasing number of high-profile publications on sources at z 2~9 on questions as diverse as AGN jets kinematics, lensed dusty galaxy surveys, molecular composition of the cold gas component of SFGs, and the establishment of precise spectroscopic redshifts using atomic and ionized lines of C and O. The recent installation of the new ALMA Band 1 (35-50 GHz) also opened the ability to search for redshifted low-J CO lines, which are a good diagnostic for estimating the mass of the molecular gas reservoir. Considering the significant discovery space in this domain to be opened by current and future facilities – JWST and Roman in particular - ALMA will leverage the expected trove of high-z detections by providing for a significant number of these sources the baseline physical context to understand AGN accretion and galaxy evolution across cosmic times. The WSU, in addition to allowing much more efficient spectral scanning for redshift surveys, will provide dramatically improved sensitivity across the board (line sensitivity by a factor ~1.5, continuum sensitivity by a factor ~1.6-2) directly translating into deeper and more efficient detections.

Schedule: https://submissions.mirasmart.com/AAS243/Itinerary/EventDetail.aspx?evt=62

Presentations titles and abstracts

J. Spilker: Cleaning up the high-redshift dusty universe with JWST and Wideband ALMA PDF presentation

The first generation of massive galaxies assembled very rapidly, with star formation rates hundreds or thousands of times higher than the Milky Way. This star formation was almost entirely obscured by dust, making such galaxies nearly invisible even in deep Hubble imaging but bright at the submillimeter wavelengths accessible by ALMA. JWST's rest-optical wavelength coverage and exquisite sensitivity, paired with the wide bandwidth of a suite of upgraded ALMA receivers, offer qualitatively new views into the formation and evolution of the most dust-obscured galaxies at high redshift. I will present some early results that pair JWST with current-generation ALMA data to resolve the structure, feeding, and feedback in and around a few well-studied lensed dusty galaxies.  

A. Long:  ALMA & Massive Galaxy Evolution in the First 2 Billion Years

One of the most puzzling discoveries of the decade is that substantial populations of massive galaxies ceased forming stars as early as two billion years after the Big Bang (i.e. by z = 3). These are likely some of the first galaxies in the Universe, yet we still do not understand how they form and evolve so rapidly. In order to piece the evolutionary puzzle together, we must capture large samples of massive galaxies at all phases of their evolution, from gas-rich star formers to fully quiescent systems -- all at z > 3. Due to the rarity and diversity of the massive galaxy population at z > 3, such an endeavor requires a combination of wide-field observations from the UV to millimeter. I will present new results on z > 3 DSFGs identified in the Ex-MORA survey -- the largest ever ALMA blank-field survey -- which is specifically designed to capture massive z > 3 galaxies too dust obscured to be detected in most pre-JWST UV/optical surveys. I will also highlight current efforts that combine incoming JWST and ALMA observations to discover and characterize z > 3 massive post-starburst and quiescent galaxies in the same field. Finally, I will explain how all of these efforts will be immensely improved by the ALMA Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade.

J. Yang: Probing co-evolution between the earliest supermassive black holes and host galaxies using JWST and ALMA PDF presentation

High-redshift quasars are unique probes for investigating the growth of the earliest supermassive black holes (SMBHs), the assembly of their massive host galaxies, and the co-evolution between the two. However, it has been challenging to place tight constraints on the connection between central SMBHs and host galaxies in high-redshift quasars, due to limitations in observations. Now, the combination of JWST and ALMA is opening up a new era. I will present some new results from observations of luminous quasars at z>6.5 using JWST and ALMA. Based on several JWST and ALMA programs, we have constructed a sample of ~ 30 luminous quasars at z~6.5-7.6, covered by both JWST and ALMA observations. Particularly, half of them have both high spatial resolution (~0.1 arcsec) JWST and ALMA observations. These quasars have JWST spectroscopic observations of the rest-frame optical emission, which enables us to obtain reliable measurements of their virial BH mass and to characterize quasar physics. We are also able to carry out a first search for AGN feedback via [OIII] in high-redshift quasars. With JWST images, we can for the first time separate the stellar light of host galaxies from the bright central point sources, to uncover the diverse quasar hosts in the early Universe. The first results have revealed extended emission from the host galaxies, galactic-scale outflows, and close companion galaxies. The ALMA observations provide deep insights into the morphology and gas kinematics of these quasar host galaxies in the rest-frame far-infrared in great detail. The high-resolution [CII] observations at 0.1 arcsec reveal complex quasar host galaxies and quasar-companion systems. The combined JWST-ALMA dataset offers a comprehensive suite of dust, gas, and stellar light observations for these most distant quasar-hosts, providing complete measurements of BH mass, dynamical mass, and stellar mass.

Denis Burgarella: ALMA's perspective on the Universe at the Epoch of Reionization

ALMA provides astronomers with the most sensitive and best angular resolution in the sub-millimeter and millimeter ranges. These characteristics are necessary to study the Universe at high, and ultra-high redshifts. The information collected by ALMA on these objects is fundamental because it allows to study the interstellar medium in the very first phases of galaxy evolution. More specifically, ALMA brings a unique information on the dust emission. For galaxies at z > 4-6, this is the only way to probe the formation of the first dust grains in the Universe. Through the far-IR fine-structure lines, ALMA also permits to constrain the gas characteristics in the HII regions (mainly [OIII] line) and in the photodissociation regions (mainly [CII] line). Beyond this physical information, ALMA observations are necessary to better estimate photometric redshifts through SED fitting, and to estimate spectroscopic redshifts via the emission lines. However, the present ALMA is still limited and we can hardly study large galaxy samples in the early Universe.
With the implementation of the ongoing Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade (WSU), ALMA’s efficiency to estimate redshifts will be improved. The better sensitivity (line sensitivity by a factor ~1.5, continuum sensitivity by a factor ~1.6-2) and mapping speed (2x - 5x) are also necessary to reach out the most distant objects. We expect a strong impact on the scientific outcome that is very necessary with the advent of JWST that opened up the z > 9 Universe to physical analysis, and with the future facilities (ELT, Roman Space Telescope, SKA).

The 19th Postdoctoral Science Symposium will be held on March 18 - 20, 2024 at the Green Bank Observatory, West Virginia, in a hybrid (virtual and in person) format. The annual symposium brings together the resident and non-resident Jansky fellows along with NRAO & Green Bank Observatory (GBO) postdocs in order to highlight their current research, share ideas, and establish collaborations. Local NRAO scientific and engineering staff are encouraged to attend.

We are pleased to have Luis Henry Quiroga-Nunez (Florida Tech) as Keynote Speaker this year.

Panelists participating in our hybrid career panel session are:

• Maura McLaughlin (WVU)
• Luis Henry Quiroga-Nunez (Florida Tech)
• Tom Rice (AAS)
• Justin Ellis (Bionic Health) 

Symposium

Date: March 18 - 20, 2024

Location: Jansky Auditorium
Green Bank Observatory, WV

Abstracts for the talks are listed here.

Talks are allocated for 20 minute each, with 15-18 min for the presentation.

All times are listed local to Green Bank, WV in the Eastern Time Zone (EST). 

All times are listed local to Green Bank, WV in the Eastern Time Zone (EST). 

Important Dates

• Samantha Scibelli (Jansky Fellow, Co-chair, NRAO-CV)
• Cosima Eibensteiner (Jansky Fellow, Co-chair, NRAO-CV)
• Jacob Turner (Green Bank Postdoctoral Fellow, Co-chair, GBO)

• Anna Kapinska (Jansky Coordinator, NRAO-NM)
• Jessica Burns (Administrative Support, NRAO-CV)

Observation Deck Photo in front of GBT! (from left to right: Luis Henry Quiroga-Nunez, Julia Blue Bird, Jacob Turner, Tom Rice, Rebecca Charbonneau, Dillon Dong, Alex Saffer, Cosima Eibensteiner, Samantha Scibelli, Lankeswar Dey, Ross Jennings, Tao-Chung Ching, Hendrik Müller, Michael Rugel, Anna Kapinska)

Group Photo with Career Panel! (from left to right: Jacob Turner, Dillon Dong, Tao-Chung Ching, Cosima Eibensteiner, Rebecca Charbonneau, Samantha Scibelli, Tom Rice, Hendrik Müller, Luis Henry Quiroga-Nunez, Lankeswar Dey, Michael Rugel, Ross Jennings, Julia Blue Bird, Alex Saffer, Anna Kapinska; virtual participation from Maura McLaughlin and Justin Ellis)

Career Panel in Action! (from left to right: Tom Rice and Luis Henry Quiroga-Nunez; top Zoom panel: Maura McLaughlin and Justin Ellis)

Collage of Polaroid photos from our site tour!

This symposium will bring together, from the Caribbean, and the international community, leading physicists, computer scientists, astronomers, technologists, entrepreneurs, policy makers, conservationists, and leaders to engage in events, conversations and collaborations to imagine the future of science and technology in the Caribbean.  We are curating a symposium that synergizes conversations, collaboration and networking, to create new bridges and opportunities between Caribbean scientists, students, and the larger scientific community.

This collaborative event, proudly hosted by the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad, and Sound+Science Inc., has received generous funding from the Simons Foundation.

•     Stephon Alexander, Brown University
•     Abuenameh Aiyejina, UWI
•     Roger Andrews, UWI
•     Rose-Marie Antoine
•     Roger Andrews, University of the West Indies
•     Robert Branderberger, McGill University
•     Angelique Brunner, EB5 Capital
•     Cyril Creque-Sarbinowski, Flatiron Research Fellow, CCA
•     Brian Copeland
•     Renee Cummings, University of Virginia
•     Tatsuya Daniel
•     Wanda Diaz-Merced, San Diego^2 STEM
•     Everad Findley
•     Shirin Haque, University of the West Indies
•     Christopher Harrison, Newcastle University
•     Patrick Hosein
•     Leah Jenks, KICP Fellow, University of Chicago
•     Clifford Johnson, UCSB
•     Brian R. Kent, National Radio Astronomy Observatory
•     Michael Kosterlitz, Brown University and Nobel Laureate in Physics
•     Leonard Levallee
•     Amanda Lind
•     Joao Magueijo, Imperial College London
•     Claude McNamarah, University of the Bahamas
•     Isa Mohammed, UWI
•     Veeshan Narinesingh
•     Phillip Phillips
•     Maria Popova
•     Mark Richards
•     Robert Rowe, NYU
•     Martine Rothblatt
•     Farrah Simpson, Brown University
•     Tarun Souradeep, Director, Raman Research Institute
•     Kendrick Smith, Perimeter Institute
•     Lee Smolin, Perimeter Institute
•     Tennecia Stephenson, UWI
•     Michael Peskin, SLAC
•     Nicolas Yunes, University of Illinois

The exploration of the Solar System and our near-Earth environment with radar helps to understand the current state and the evolution of Earth's nearest celestial neighbors. Radar plays an important role in planetary science and planetary defense by characterizing these bodies and evaluating their impact risk to Earth. Advances in astronomical radar are opening new avenues, renewed investment, and interest in joint industry and scientific community collaborations as a multidisciplinary venture. The National Academies’ Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey report sent a strong message from the community to NASA and the National Science Foundation to support ground-based astronomical radar capabilities. There is currently only one system in the world, the Goldstone Solar System Radar, concentrating on these efforts. A new instrument concept called the next generation RADAR (ngRADAR) system will use the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope and other current and future facilities to expand on these capabilities. This scientific session will showcase recent results obtained with ground-based radar systems and discuss how radar has the potential to substantially advance knowledge of the solar system, inform future robotic and manned spaceflight, and identify Earth-impact hazards.

https://aaas.confex.com/aaas/2024/meetingapp.cgi/Session/31587

The following sessions and opportunities at the winter June 2024 American Astronomical Society (AAS 243) meeting will showcase the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and Green Bank Observatory in Madison, Wisconsin.

The Block Schedule meeting program for the conference is now available.

NRAO and e-Learning will be shown at the meeting on Tuesday, June 11th at 10am.

CARTA will be shared with the membership at 9:30am on Tuesday, June 11th.

The NRAO and Green Bank Observatory tables will be in the exhibit hall for the duration of the conference.  Please visit The Observatories to learn about observing opportunities, science, student programs, and ways to be involved.

Follow the NRAO (FB, X, LinkedIn, Instagram) and GBO (FB, X, LinkedIn, Instagram) to learn about the latest events happening at the conference.

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory and Green Bank Observatory will showcase the best in radio astronomy and science at the IAU General Assembly XXXII in Cape Town, South Africa, August 6-15, 2024.

NRAO/GBO/AUI and users from the community will participate in the following Division events, symposia, working groups, and focus meetings:

• A Coherent View of Atomic and Molecular Gas from Infrared to Radio Wavelengths, Focus Meeting 2.
• The Future of Radio Astronomy in an Increasingly Crowded Spectrum, Focus Meeting 5.
• IAU 389:  Gravitational Wave Astrophysics
• Division B:  Facilities, Technologies, and Data Science
• Division C: Education, Outreach, and Heritage
• Division H: Interstellar Matter and the Local Universe
• Division J:  Galaxies and Cosmology
• IAU 392: Neutral Hydrogen in and Around Galaxies
• Global Coordination of Ground and Space Astrophysics, Working Group 1
• Astronomy for Equity and Inclusion, Working Group 4
• Women in Astronomy, Working Group 3
• New Horizons at the Interface between Computational Astrophysics and Big Data
• Multi-Wavelength Astronomy, Focus Meeting 11
• Dark and Quiet Sky Protection, Working Group 6

The NRAO and Green Bank Observatory will be in the front of the exhibit hall for the entire conference.  Please visit to learn about science, research, student opportunities, the next generation VLA (ngVLA), and the ALMA Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade (WSU).

Follow the NRAO (FB, X, LinkedIn, Instagram) and GBO (FB, X, LinkedIn, Instagram) to learn about the latest events happening at the conference.

Presentation Schedule

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory and Central Development Laboratory will showcase their latest developments in radio instrumentation technology at the IEEE International Microwave Symposium in Washington, D.C., June 17-21, 2024.

The NRAO/GBO and ngVLA table (#256) will be in the exhibit hall for the duration of the conference in Washington, D.C.  Visit The Observatories to learn about the latest developments in R&D instrumentation.

The Technical Program for the conference is now available.

Follow the NRAO (FB, X, LinkedIn, Instagram) to learn about the latest events happening at the conference.