On January 19, Mitaka Network University held an event called “Astronomy Pub” where people can talk about astronomy over drinks and food. This time, Masaaki Hiramatsu, an assistant professor at the NAOJ Chile Observatory was invited as a guest speaker and gave a talk titled “ALMA Starts Full Operations!”

The event consists of two parts: the first part is a talk between a guest and a host. Naomi Ishikawa, a public outreach official at the Public Relations Center of NAOJ, who shares a hometown in Okayama with Hiramatsu, played host of this talk. Hiramatsu began with the presentation of the progress of the ALMA project showing chronologically pictures of: ALMA antennas provisionally assembled in a plant in Kurashiki, Okayama prefecture; an increasing number of antennas installed at the high site in the Atacama Desert; and the latest appearance of the ALMA Telescope. Following the review of the basics of radio astronomy, Hiramatsu talked about the results obtained in the ALMA early observations so far. Participants seemed to be surprised at the actual images captured by ALMA, which are incomparably clearer than those taken by existing telescopes.

In the second part of the event, participants can talk freely with the guest in a buffer style setting. This is one of the best parts of the astronomy pub where people can enjoy talking over drinks and food in a more relaxed atmosphere. In this buffet, the dishes were served with unique names associated with the keywords of the lecture. The picture below shows “Red & White Parabola Salad” with salmon and scallop.