Flying above the ALMA AOS

Aerial view of the ALMA Array Operations Site (AOS), located at 5000 metres altitude on the Chajnantor plateau, in the Chilean Andes. At the top-right, seven 12-metre antennas are being tested on the closely-spaced pads of the Atacama Compact Array (ACA). When ALMA is complete, the ACA will be made up of four 12-metre antennas plus twelve 7-metre antennas. It is positioned near the centre of the main array. At the bottom-left, the AOS Technical Building is visible. This building hosts the ALMA Correlator, the computer which will combine the signals from the ALMA antennas, allowing them to work as a single giant telescope. This picture was taken on 24 March, 2011.