The Cube Analysis and Rendering Tool for Astronomy (CARTA), a new image visualization and analysis tool designed for ALMA, VLA, and SKA pathfinders, has been integrated into the ALMA Science Archive (ASA). Now all 500,000+ science FITS files in the ALMA archive can be previewed using CARTA (Cycle 0 excluded).

The I-TRAIN session in May will serve as a tutorial on self-calibration of ALMA data. The session will be held online on Tuesday May 25, 2021, 11:00 CEST [Zoom link]. In this session you will learn how to self-calibrate your interferometric images to improve their image fidelity. In particular, you will learn criteria to decide whether to self-calibrate, what preparation is needed, how to choose parameter values - and when to stop - and thus, how to improve the image dynamic range and bring faint details out of the noise.

The German ARC node offers hands-on training in the reduction and analysis of ALMA data in their online Master-level course "Radio Interferometry 2021" which runs from April to July 2021. More information can be found here. 

While the COVID-19 pandemic persists all around the world, ALMA staff at the JAO and in the regions continue to work towards bringing the array back online, with the ultimate goal to resume science operations and deliver high-quality science data to our users. At this moment, the ALMA antennas are in the process of being powered up and inspected after having been stowed for about 300 days. 

The European ARC CalMS service provides Calibrated Measurement Sets (MSs) for ALMA archive data for all users who request them. All European users are encouraged to make use of this service that has succesfully provided more than 500 MSs since October 2019.

The I-TRAIN session in February will serve as a tutorial on the inspection of ALMA WebLogs. The session will be held online on Friday February 19, 2020, 11:00 CET [Zoom link][Calendar (.ics)]. WebLogs are produced by the ALMA pipeline and contain diagnostic information on data calibration and imaging.  This session will teach users how to interpret the WebLog information and how to use it to guide re-imaging ALMA data.

The European ARC Network is offering an online training on simulating observations with the ALMA Observation Support Tool (OST) on Thursday March 11, 2021, 11:00 CET [Zoom link][Calendar (.ics)]. The OST allows users to test the effect of differing array configurations, frequency tunings, pointing strategies and weather conditions on imaging (2D or 3D) a sky-model of their choosing. 

The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) is planning to start the observations for Cycle 8 2021 in October 2021. A Call for Proposals (CfP) with detailed information on the new cycle is anticipated to be issued in March 2021 and the deadline for proposal submission will be in April 2021. The purpose of this pre-announcement is to highlight aspects of the CfP to assist with early planning. It also contains information related to the proposal review process.