ALMA Imaging Simulator

An ALMA imaging simulator has been developped and is available in the MAPPING software of the GILDAS package. Just click on "ALMA Simulator" in the MAPPING menu of the main widget.

APRIL 2016 : Be careful, due to recent devlopment in MAPPING, the simulator may be not up to date.

Description
The most detailed description of this simulator is available in the ALMA memo 398, "Impact of ACA on the Wide-Field Imaging Capabilities of ALMA", by J. Pety, F. Gueth and S. Guilloteau.

Example of work done with this tool
  • Detecting Planets in Protoplanetary Disks: A Prospective Study, S. Wolf et al. 2002, ApJ 566 L97
  • Large-Scale Vortices in Protoplanetary Disks: On the Observability of Possible Early Stages of Planet Formation, S. Wolf & H. Klahr, ApJ 578 L79
  • On the Observability of Giant Protoplanets in Circumstellar Disks, S. Wolf & G. D'Angelo 2005 ApJ 619 1114
  • Chemical and Thermal Structure of Protoplanetary Disks as Observed with ALMA, D. Semenov et al. 2008 ApJ 673 L195


Simulations of ALMA observations of the HCO+(4-3) emission in a protoplanetray disk: four different models (left column) and three simulated observations with different configurations/observing times. From Semenov et al. 2008.











Simulations of ALMA observations of a protoplanet in a circumstellar disk (left: 1 MJup, right: 5 MJup; top: distance of 50 pc; bottom: 100 pc). From Wolf & D'Angelo 2005.