ALMA Observatory | ALMA
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) -the largest astronomical project in existence- is a single telescope of revolutionary design, composed of 66 high precision antennas located on the Chajnantor Plateau, 5000 meters altitude in northern Chile.
About ALMA, at first glance | ALMA - Atacama Large Millimeter Array
Scientists foresee record harvests, where invisible light (radio waves) accumulated by ALMA will be vital to our understanding of the Universe. The purpose of ALMA is to study star formation, molecular clouds and the early Universe, closing in on …
How ALMA Works | ALMA - Atacama Large Millimeter Array
This chain also defines the ALMA architecture and engineering, as well as its organizational model. Below is a brief tour of the different components that make up the radiotelescope and an explanation of why the array requires optimal operation to enable ALMA to revolutionize science.
Discoveries | ALMA - Atacama Large Millimeter Array
ALMA radio telescope has also deepened the understanding of star formation. In 2021, astronomers used ALMA to map the nearby Universe and reveal the diversity of star-forming galaxies. Stars are formed out of clouds of dust and gas called molecular clouds, or …
Factsheet | ALMA - Atacama Large Millimeter Array
Times more details than the Hubble space telescope images can be seen in ALMA images 10 Milliarcseconds maximum angular resolution (equivalent to see a common whale on the Moon)
Antennas | ALMA - Atacama Large Millimeter Array
ALMA has 66 antennas: fifty-four 12-meter diameter antennas and twelve 7-meter diameter antennas. The radio telescope combines signals from each, working as an interferometer, in other words, a single giant telescope equal in size to the total array.
How does ALMA see? | ALMA - Atacama Large Millimeter Array
Thanks to ALMA, which observes the portion of the radio waves in millimetric and submillimetric wavelengths (found between the far infrared waves and the radio waves), we are able to fulfill the dream of opening a new window for high-resolution exploration of the Universe.
Interferometry | ALMA - Atacama Large Millimeter Array
The antenna signals are combined and processed on a supercomputer -the ALMA Correlator- to simulate an individual radio telescope. In other words, an interferometer works like a radio telescope equivalent to the size of the complete array.
Origins | ALMA - Atacama Large Millimeter Array
However, two decades prior to this, the global scientific community had already identified the need for a radiotelescope with the characteristics of ALMA. The project began when Europe, North America and Eastern Asia each worked in isolation to …
ALMA Opens Its Eyes | ALMA - Atacama Large Millimeter Array
2011年10月3日 · The most powerful millimeter/submillimeter-wavelength telescope in the world opens for business and reveals its first image. Humanity’s most complex ground-based astronomy observatory, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), …