On August 20, the NAOJ Nobeyama Open Campus 2011 was held at
the Nobeyama Radio Observatory (NRO)
in Nagano prefecture. Although it rained all day, as many as 2506 people came to the event.

The ALMA project booth was set up at the NMA (Nobeyama Millimeter Array) Control Building, where the ALMA staff from Mitaka explained the project showing posters and a diorama of the ALMA telescope.

At the ALMA booth, Masaaki Hiramatsu, Assistant Professor at the ALMA-J Project Office gave a mini-lecture titled “The ALMA Telescope Just About to Open Its Eyes” which attracted a large audience exceeding the seating capacity of the lecture room. This demonstrates growing interest of the public in the ALMA project.

“Why are you giving a presentation of the ALMA project in Chile, here in Nobeyama?” This is a question we were asked several times during the event. As some of you may know, ALMA has a historical connection with the NRO. Many of the ALMA-J astronomers acquired their observation techniques using the 45-m Radio Telescope and NMA at the NRO that established the basis for the Japanese radio astronomy. These technologies and experiences obtained there have been incorporated in the ALMA telescope. This means that the ALMA project today is supported by human resources and technologies developed at the NRO.

Yasutaka Kurono, Researcher at the ALMA-J Project Office, explaining the ALMA Telescope at the poster exhibition area.

Assistant Professor Masaaki Hiramatsu (in a yellow cap) explaining to visitors the Milky Way seen in the night sky over the ALMA site in Chile. [Picture and texts provided by Tomomi Sato (NAOJ)]