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    October 03, 2011

Huge Telescope Starts Operations in Chile

   VOA News
   View from the center of the ALMA array in northern Chile
   Photo: Tania Burchell
   A view from the center of the ALMA array at an elevation of 5,000
   meters on the Chajnantor Plain in northern Chile. Each of these radio
   telescopes has a dish spanning nearly 40 feet across.

   A powerful new radio telescope has begun probing the depths of outer
   space from the Atacama desert in northern Chile.
   The telescope, called [1]ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/Sub-Millimeter
   Array), began operating Monday after years of planning and
   construction. The telescope is using 16 large antennas to see
   wavelengths of light that are much longer than what the human eye can
   see. Eventually it will use 66 antennas.
   Scientists like the desert location because the instrument is set up in
   an area that is extremely dry and is at an altitude of 5,000 meters.
   The researchers are hoping the telescope will yield new clues about the
   coldest and darkest regions of space, and provide information about the
   formation of stars and planets in galaxies.

References

   1. http://www.nrao.edu/explorer/alma/index.php?id=AOS_003&map=AOS

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