ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey

ACES, the ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey, is a "Large Program" survey of the ‘Central Molecular Zone’ (CMZ) – the inner-100 pc (300 light-years) of our Galaxy – with the ALMA telescope, which was awarded in Cycle 8. ACES will derive the properties of all potentially star-forming gas in the Galactic Centre, from global (100 pc) to proto-stellar core (0.05 pc) scales, down to sub-sonic (<0.4 km/s) velocity resolution. ACES primary goal is to determine how global processes set the location, intensity and timescales for SF/FB in the Galactic Centre. 

As a Cycle 8 project, all of the ACES data have been taken. We made the science-ready data publicly available through the ALMA Archive in February 2026.

ACES is a consortium of the Galactic Centre community open to anyone involved in CMZ research who contributes to the survey. If you are interested in joining ACES, please contact one of the co-PIs or WP-leads on the Team page.