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Description
The Institut de Radio Astronomie Millimetrique (IRAM) was founded in 1979 and is operated as a French-German-Spanish collaboration. Its partner institutes are the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France), the MPG (Max Planck Gesellschaft, Germany), and the IGN (Instituto Geografico Nacional, Spain). The principal activity of IRAM is the study of cold matter (molecular gas and dust) in the solar system, in our Galaxy, and out to cosmological distances in order to determine its composition, density, mass, temperature, and kinematics. IRAM operates two observatories at millimeter wavelengths which are open to the international astronomical community: The 30-m single-dish telescope on Pico Veleta (2850m), Spain, and the six-antenna interferometer on the Plateau de Bure (2550m) in France. Both sites are at high altitude to reduce the absorption by water vapor. The observatories are supported by the IRAM offices and laboratories in Granada and Grenoble. The observation log included here concerns the Plateau de Bure site, and summarizes the observations made there from December 1990. The observations log of the 30-m single-dish telescope covers a period starting in January 2009. This log was produced using a header archive, a collaborative effort between IRAM and IAA/CSIC. NOEMA (NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array) is the successor to the Plateau du Bure observatory. During its history, the observatory at the Plateau de Bure underwent several track extensions, received additional antennas (all of 15m diameter and similar construction as the first ones) and technical upgrades. From a three antenna interferometer with a maximum baseline of 288 meters in 1988, it has evolved to a eight-antenna array with baselines up to 760 meters in 2016. With the inauguration of the seventh antenna in September 2014, the observatory has started its transformation into NOEMA.
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