Educational / Science / Institutional Visits

ALMA hosts guided visits from Monday to Friday – excluding holidays- to groups from schools, universities, institutes and related scientific organizations. These visits can be conducted in Spanish or English.

The visits -which will take about 3 hours- include a tour of the Operations Support Facility (OSF), the camp where ALMA personnel work and where visitors can observe the control room, laboratories, and sometimes an antenna under maintenance and antenna transporter. 

There they will learn how the observatory works, they will know the work areas of the staff and watch a video about the first decade of ALMA, among other activities. For safety reasons, visits to the Chajnantor Plateau (the Array Operations Site (AOS) where the antennas are located) are not authorized, due to its high altitude at 5,000 meters above sea level.

We can receive group of up to 40 people (including students, professors and/or parents/guardians). The minimum age of visitors must be 10 years. The visiting group must have its own means of transportation to the Observatory (OSF or the ALMA camp) located 35 kms from San Pedro de Atacama.

All visits must be coordinated at least one month in advance by providing all of the information required on the form below. Once a group receives authorization, the contact for the group will receive a confirmation email.

Form

    Requester's Name (required)

    Name of Institution

    Type of Institution (University, School, etc)

    Address and City of Institution

    Requester's Job Title

    Requester's Email (required)

    Requester's phone

    Suggested Date of Visit (YYYY-MM-DD)

    Number of persons who would visit ALMA

    Schools: Grades of the Students

    Preferred Language

    Objective of the Visit

    Specific Requirements