Lit by the galaxy

In total, 66 separate antennas combine to form ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array — a group are shown here, bathed in the bright light of our Milky Way. Located around 5000 metres up in the Chilean mountains, ALMA is the largest ground-based astronomical project in existence. The antennas are provided by North America, Europe and East Asia.

The telescope scours the Universe in the radio range, studying the stunning, varied phenomena it has to offer.