United Nations Secretary-General Visits ALMA

10 September, 2024 / Read time: 3 minutes

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), one of the largest and most sensitive telescopes of its kind in the world, received a visit from United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres, who had the opportunity to learn about how ALMA's high-tech systems capture and combine signals from the cosmos. ALMA represents a partnership between Europe (European Southern Observatory), North America (National Radio Astronomy Observatory), and East Asia (National Astronomy Observatory of Japan), along with the Republic of Chile. These nations worked together to create a scientific instrument that none of them could build on their own.

Chile has been called an astronomy paradise, and that's why ALMA was constructed on the Chajnantor Plateau in the country's Atacama Desert, one of the highest and driest places on Earth. This position provides a clear view of the southern sky, while atmospheric conditions at the Plateau are ideal for ALMA's millimeter and submillimeter observations.

"NRAO is proud to be a part of ALMA, with support and oversight from the US National Science Foundation and Associated Universities, Inc. The UN and ALMA have much in common - both result from international collaboration in the hopes of sharing knowledge and resources that benefit all of humanity. We are honored by this visit from Secretary-General Guterres, where we were able to show how the ALMA partnership mirrors the goals and efforts of the UN," said Paulina Bocaz, AUI Representative and NRAO Assistant Director for 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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