Snow visits the ALMA Site

At 5000 metres above sea level, on the Chajnantor plateau, one of the giant ALMA antenna transporters contemplates an unexpected sight — a delicate dusting of snow. Although snow is a very rare event at this extremely arid site it is occasionally a consequence of the so called “Altiplanic winter”. This image was taken on 30 April 2010. The ALMA transporters are two giant custom-built vehicles, specially designed to move the antennas across the Chajnantor plateau, allowing different configurations of the array. Since late 2009, there have been three antennas at 5000 metres.