4 Comparison of the ALMA and Herschel - ESO

Report by the ESA-ESO Working Group on
The Herschel-ALMA Synergies
Introduction & Background
Following an agreement to cooperate on science planning issues, the executives of the
European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the European Space Agency (ESA) Science
Programme and representatives of their science advisory structures have met to share
information and to identify potential synergies within their future projects. The agreement
arose from their joint founding membership of EIROforum (http://www.eiroforum.org)
and a recognition that, as pan-European organisations, they served essentially the same
scientific community.
At a meeting at ESO in Garching during September 2003, it was agreed to establish a
number of working groups that would be given the task of exploring these synergies in
important areas of mutual interest and to make recommendations to both organisations.
The chair and co-chair of each group were to be chosen by the executives but thereafter,
the groups would be free to select their membership and to act independently of the
sponsoring organisations.
Terms of Reference and Composition
The goals set for the working group were to provide:
• A survey of the scientific areas covered by the Herschel and ALMA missions. This
survey will comprise:
a. a review of the methods used in those areas;
b. a survey of the use of ALMA and Herschel in those areas and how these missions
compete with or complement each other;
c. for each area, a summary of the potential targets, accuracy and sensitivity limits,
and scientific capabilities and limitations.
• An examination of the role of ESO and ESA in running these facilities that will:
a. identify areas in which current and planned ESA and ESO facilities will contribute
to science areas covered by Herschel and ALMA;
b. analyse the expected scientific returns and risks of each;
c. identify areas of potential scientific overlap, and thus assess the extent to which
the facilities complement or compete;
d. identify open areas which merit attention by one or both organisations (for example,
follow-up observations by ESO to maximise the return from Herschel);
e. conclude on the scientific case for coordination of ALMA and Herschel activities.
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