Introduction to Radio Interferometry with ALMA

PSETI Seminar
Ian Czekala
January 21, 2021

Abstract:
Through the synthesis of signals collected from multiple antennae, radio interferometry provides a means to achieve unprecedented spatial resolution observations of cosmic sources. As the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) has transitioned to "full science" operations over the past 5 years, the community has used the array to make many exciting discoveries (imaging a black hole, discovering protoplanetary disk "substructure" likely caused by planets, and connecting the properties of extragalactic star forming regions to their host galaxies, to list just a few). I will review the basics of the radio interferometry technique, identify some open challenges, and outline how to apply for ALMA time in the upcoming Cycle 8 call for proposals.