ALMA Telescope In Chilean Andes Makes First Observations

by amyellensoden | November 18, 2009 at 01:18 pm

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The new ALMA telescope, located in the Chilean Andes, has made its first observations and measurements using two antennae. Situated in the Atacama Desert, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array is the largest ground-based observatory tool that will eventually have 66 functioning antennae to read radio signals known as "fringes."

The ALMA telescope will be innovative in terms of detecting planet formation around young stars and galaxies formed after the Big Bang Theory. Signals are correlated from multiple telescopes and linked together through ALMA. Once a third antenna is active, ALMA staff will be able to cancel out errors in signals, a process known as "phase closure."

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array took interferometric measurements of radio signals, or "fringes," from a distant quasar (3C454.3) at sub-millimeter wavelengths. Astronomers said the data from the two 12-meter antennas provided unprecedented sensitivity and resolution, and observations at a wavelength of less than 1mm showed ALMA was now truly a "submillimeter" as well as millimeter-wave telescope.

ALMA made its first sub-millimeter measurements yesterday and the team is already pleased with its success. The high resolution and sensitivity of the telescope are leading scientists to believe that ALMA will be a revolutionary tool for our observations of the universe and activity in other galaxies.