NAOJ Sign Agreement with the University of Chile about ALMA Band 2 receiver

12 December, 2023 / Read time: 2 minutes

The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), an ALMA partner on behalf of East Asia, has recently signed an agreement with the University of Chile / UNTEC (Foundation for Technological Transfer) to produce hardware components for the ALMA Band 2 receiver. The ALMA Band 2 receiver is a development project led by the European Southern Observatory (ESO), an ALMA partner on behalf of Europe, with the support of NAOJ. The East Asian partner will deliver the receiver optics, which consist of plastic lenses, feedhorn antennas, and other waveguide components. University de Chile will produce the ALMA Band 2 lenses, following the successful collaboration established during the production of ALMA Band 1 receivers. Universidad de Chile / UNTEC successfully fabricated and delivered to NAOJ the lenses that are used for the ALMA Band 1 receiver, among others. As in that case, state-of-the-art technology produced in Chile will be delivered to ALMA by NAOJ.

On November 22nd, NAOJ Director General Prof. Saku Tsuneta, NAOJ ALMA Project Director Prof. Alvaro Gonzalez, and NAOJ Legal Representative in Chile Mr. Teruyuki Watanabe paid a courtesy visit to the Dean of the Faculty of Physical Sciences and Mathematics of the University of Chile, and a delegation of the Department of Astronomy and UNTEC. During the visit, past and present collaboration between NAOJ and the University of Chile, including the recent ALMA Band 2 collaboration agreement, was reviewed, and future initiatives were discussed. The NAOJ delegation was greeted with a piano performance by Japanese composer Isao Matsushita by a University of Chile engineer. The group also visited the Space and Planetary Exploration Laboratory (SPEL), where the NAOJ delegation could see the newest work in nanosatellite development at the University of Chile.

Additional Information

ALMA is a partnership of ESO (representing its member states), NSF (USA), and NINS (Japan), together with NRC (Canada), NSTC and ASIAA (Taiwan), and KASI (Republic of Korea), in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. The Joint ALMA Observatory is operated by ESO, AUI/NRAO and NAOJ.

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