ALMA in Action

31 December, 2013 / Read time: 1 minute

The 66 antennas of ALMA work together as one giant telescope to view the skies over northern Chile. They have mapped the places where stars and planets are being born and are helping us better understand the life cycles of solar systems, including our own.

Their mounts move as fast as missile trackers to allow the antennas to make quick calibration observations off their target sources to measure the amount of water in the atmosphere that might affect their view.

Credits: National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)