The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), one of the largest ground-based astronomy projects of the next decade, is a major new facility for world astronomy. ALMA will be comprised of a giant array of 12-m antennas, with baselines up to 16 km and state-of-the-art receivers that cover all the atmospheric windows up to 1 THz. An additional, compact array of 7-m and 12-m antennas will greatly enhance ALMA's ability to image extended sources. Construction of ALMA started in 2003 and will be completed in 2013. The ALMA project is an international collaboration between Europe, East Asia and North America in cooperation with the Republic of Chile.


News

Jan 04, 2010

For the first time in the ALMA project, closure phase has been achieved between three antennas working together as an interferometer. This massive achievement took place at the 5000-m altitude observing site in Chile and demonstrates that the ALMA system is working extremely well. Announcement

Nov 12, 2009

The first fringes have been detected using a two-element interferometer at the 5000-m altitude observing site in Chile - a major milestone in the construction of ALMA! Announcement

Sep 23, 2009

For the first time, an ALMA antenna has been transported from the Operations Support Facility (located at an altitude of 2900 m) to the Array Operations Site (5000 m) where ALMA observations will ultimately take place.

May 04, 2009

The first astronomical fringes have been detected at the Operations Support Facility in Chile. Mars was observed at a frequency of 104.2 GHz (Band 3) using a Vertex and a Melco antenna on April 30. The image to the right shows the instrumental response as Mars moves across the sky. Click on the image for more information.

Timeline

  • mid-2006: European ARC activities begin
  • mid-2007: First antenna arrives in Chile
  • mid-2009: Two-antenna interferometry at the OSF
  • late 2009: Three-antenna interferometry and closure phase at the AOS
  • early 2010: Commissioning and Science Verification starts
  • early 2011: Deadline for Early Science proposals
  • mid-2011: Early Science begins
  • 2012: Inauguration
  • 2013: Completion of Construction

Quick Links

  • ALMA website: The main Internet site of the ALMA project
  • Newsletter: Read the latest edition of the European ALMA Newsletter
  • Jobs: Working for ALMA
  • Basics: Learn about the ALMA basics
  • Sensitivity calculator: Use this to plan your ALMA science project
  • Brochure: This contains information about the ALMA project, its construction, the ALMA site, the technologies and the science objectives
  • Contact information: Find telephone numbers and email addresses

ALMA antennas
at OSF (low site):
10


ALMA antennas
at AOS (high site):
7


There are two Web Cams at the OSF, WC1 and WC2. They allow you to watch the OSF construction activities and have been configured to show a picture every minute.