The ALMA Development Program: Roadmap to 2030

TL;DR

The paper outlines the development plans for ALMA up to 2030, emphasizing its capabilities for high-resolution, sensitive millimeter/submillimeter observations and its strategic site advantages.

Contribution

It presents a comprehensive roadmap for ALMA's technological and scientific advancements through 2030, highlighting planned upgrades and scientific goals.

Findings

ALMA offers high-resolution, sensitive imaging at millimeter/submillimeter wavelengths.

The site provides optimal conditions for low-noise observations.

Upcoming upgrades aim to enhance ALMA's capabilities further.

Abstract

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is the premier telescope for sensitive, high-resolution observations at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. The array consists of fifty 12-m diameter antennas that can be reconfigured to baselines as long as 16 km, twelve 7-m antennas that sample the short visibility spacings, and four 12-m antennas that provide total power capabilities for spectral line and continuum observations. Located in the Atacama desert in northern Chile at an elevation of 5000 m on the Chajnantour plateau, the ALMA site provides excellent observing conditions with low precipitable water vapor. The large number of antennas, the high-altitude site, and excellent receivers with low-noise performance provide an extremely sensitive, flexible instrument for submillimeter imaging.