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Science Goals

Science Goals are integral to the definition of a Phase-1 proposal as they describe the observations that are to be performed. In order to make applying for time as easy as possible, Science Goals have been designed such that it is unnecessary to have a deep understanding of the technical details of an instrument as complicated as ALMA, or of interferometry. Therefore, a Science Goal takes as input the scientific aims of an observation i.e. the sources and transitions that are to be observed and the required sensitivity and angular resolution. How these goals are to be achieved in practice should not necessarily concern a user and the OT will ensure through its validation process that only proposals that are technically feasible can be submitted.

As already said, Science Goals come in two varieties, Phase-1 and Phase-2. Both look, and to all intents and purposes are, identical. The main difference is that, if the SBs used to perform the observations are automatically generated, this is done using the Phase-2 versions only. For expert users, Phase-2 Science Goals aren't necessary to produce SBs, but their use is definitely recommended.


next up previous contents
Next: Observing Unit Sets Up: Basic Concepts Previous: Phase-2 Programs   Contents
The ALMA OT Team, 2017 Dec 18