The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array

TL;DR

ALMA is a large, high-altitude radio telescope array in Chile designed to study the universe in millimeter/submillimeter wavelengths, offering high-resolution observations of cosmic gas, dust, and galaxies across the universe.

Contribution

This paper details the design, technical challenges, and scientific goals of ALMA, a new international radio telescope array for millimeter/submillimeter astronomy.

Findings

ALMA will provide high-resolution data on cosmic gas and dust.

It will enable studies of the universe from our galaxy to high-redshift galaxies.

The project addresses significant technical challenges in high-altitude radio astronomy.

Abstract

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an international radio telescope under construction in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. ALMA is situated on a dry site at 5000 m elevation, allowing excellent atmospheric transmission over the instrument wavelength range of 0.3 to 10 mm. ALMA will consist of two arrays of high-precision antennas. One, of up to 64 12-m diameter antennas, is reconfigurable in multiple patterns ranging in size from 150 meters up to ~15 km. A second array is comprised of a set of four 12-m and twelve 7-m antennas operating in one of two closely packed configurations ~50 m in diameter. The instrument will provide both interferometric and total-power astronomical information on atomic, molecular and ionized gas and dust in the solar system, our Galaxy, and the nearby to high-redshift universe. In this paper we outline the scientific drivers, technical challenges and planned progress of ALMA.