School Program

Students will learn how (sub-)millimeter interferometers work, through a combination of lectures and hands-on demonstrations and will visit the Submillimeter Array on Maunakea, learning how the array is run and how data are collected on the SMA. Students will be involved in collecting, reducing, calibrating, and producing images from SMA data, to be presented at the conclusion of the school.

Lectures will be held at the IfA lecture hall, and are open to the astronomical community in Hilo, HI. Students should be ready for departure from the Hilo Hawaiian no later than 8 AM.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

TimeTitle
1 PM - 4 PMRegistration and Group Assignments at Hilo Hawaiian Hotel Lobby
4 PM - 6 PMPreparation for Observations.
Scripts for observing will be prepared during this time for the observing sessions
6 PM - 12 AMStudent Observing Begins.
Two student groups head to the SAO offices for observing, weather permitting.


Monday, January 13, 2020

TimeTitle
8:30 AM - 9 AMOpening Remarks and Welcome — Simon Radford, School Instructors
9 AM - 9:30 AMIntroduction to Radio Astronomy — Jonathan Williams (pdf)
9:30 AM - 10 AMFundamentals of Interferometry I — Garrett 'Karto' Keating (pdf)
10 AM - 10:30 AMBREAK
10:30 AM - 11 AMFundamentals of Interferometry II — Qizhou Zhang (pdf)
11 AM - 11:30 AMAtmospheric Effects — Simon Radford (pdf)
11:30 AM - 12 PMAntennas and Pointing — Ram Rao (pdf)
12 PM - 1 PMLUNCH BREAK
1 PM - 1:20 PMReceivers — Rob Christensen (pdf)
1:20 PM - 1:40 PMIF/LO — Derek Kubo (pdf)
1:40 PM - 2 PMDigital Backends/Correlators — Ranjani Srinivasan (pdf)
2 PM - 2:30 PMCalibration I — Mark Gurwell (pdf)
2:30 PM - 3 PMBREAK
3 PM - 3:30 PMError Recognition I — Garrett 'Karto' Keating (pdf)
3:30 PM - 4:30 PMImaging and Deconvolution — David Wilner (pdf)
5 PM - 5:30 PMTour of the Hilo Electronics/Receiver Lab (students only)
6 PM - 12 AMStudent Observing Begins.
Two student groups head to the SAO offices for observing, weather permitting.


Tuesday, January 14, 2020

TimeTitle
8:30 AM - 9:30 AMPrimer to Data Reduction I — Andrew Burkhardt (pdf)
Flagging and Calibration in MIR
9:30 AM - 10 AMCalibration II — Mark Gurwell (pdf)
10 AM - 10:30 AMBREAK
10:30 AM - 11 AMNon-Imaging Analysis — Luca Matra (pdf)
11 AM - 12 PMPrimer to Data Reduction II — Luca Matra (pdf)
Imaging Data in CASA
12 PM - 1 PMLUNCH BREAK
1 PM - 1:30 PMVLBI — Geoff Bower (pdf)
1:30 PM - 2 PMObservational Planning I — Geoff Bower (pdf)
2 PM - 2:30 PMObservational Planning II — Shelbi Schimpf (pdf)
2:30 PM - 3 PMBREAK
3 PM - 3:30 PMPolarimetry — Ram Rao (pdf)
3:30 PM - 4 PMError Recognition II — Garrett 'Karto' Keating (pdf)
4 PM - 4:30 PMSingle Dish Observing — Steve Mairs (pdf)
5 PM - 5:30 PMTour of the ASIAA Digital Lab (students only)
6 PM - 12 AMStudent Observing Begins.
Two student groups head to the SAO offices for observing, weather permitting.


Wednesday, January 15, 2020

TimeTitle
9 AM - 5 PMMLO Facility Tour (Ram Rao, Andrew Burkhardt)
8:30 AM - 12 AMHands-on data reduction session (Qizhou Zhang, Mark Gurwell, Luca Matra)
12 PM - 1 PMLUNCH BREAK
1 PM - 5:30 PMHands-on data reduction session (Qizhou Zhang, Mark Gurwell, Luca Matra)
6 PM - 12 AMStudent Observing Begins.
Two student groups head to the SAO offices for observing, weather permitting.


Thursday, January 16, 2020

TimeTitle
9 AM - 5 PMSMA Facility Tour (Ram Rao, Andrew Burkhardt)
8:30 AM - 12 AMHands-on data reduction session (Qizhou Zhang, Mark Gurwell, Luca Matra)
12 PM - 1 PMLUNCH BREAK
1 PM - 5:30 PMHands-on data reduction session (Qizhou Zhang, Mark Gurwell, Luca Matra)
6 PM - 8 PMSchool Dinner


Friday, January 17, 2020

TimeTitle
8:30 AM - 10:30 AMData reduction and write-up
10:30 AM - 12 PMStudent Presentations
Each group will present the results of their observation (15 minutes per group)
12 PM - 1 PMLUNCH BREAK