ESO's ALMA to explore the skies with three times the detail

The European Southern Observatory’s Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) has taken a considerable step towards the goal of producing images of the universe at unprecedented resolution.

In November 2009, the third antenna at the ALMA observatory was installed at the operation site on the Chajnantor plateau in the Chilean Andes, five thousand metres above sea level. “The linking of three antennas is indeed the first actual step towards our goal of achieving precise and sharp images at submillimetre wavelengths,” says Leonardo Testi, the European Project Scientist for ALMA at ESO.

When complete, the ESO hopes to have up to sixty-six high tech antennas operating as a single telescope that will examine the skies using both millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths of light, the combination of which should produce images of incredible quality. Using more than two satellites allows for any unwanted interference in signal reception to be cancelled out. The three-antenna set-up has so far been tested on the quasar QSO B1921-293, known to astronomers for its bright emission at very long wavelengths, such as the range covered by the ALMA station.

More antennas are to be installed at the site in the near future, putting the ALMA facility – which is a partnership between European, East Asian, North American and Chilean research groups – well on the way to becoming an interferometer.

For more information on the ALMA, contact Douglas Pierce-Price at dpiercep@eso.org

Published: Tuesday, 5th January 2010 by Tom Freeman

Comment on this article

Comments

No comments for this article, be the first to comment