The Future of ALMA

1 March, 2017 / Read time: 1 minute

In this early footage, Sheperd Doeleman, principal investigator of the ALMA Phasing Project and assistant director of MIT's Haystack Observatory, discussed the exciting science that awaited the ALMA-enabled Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), launched in 2009. 

This ambitious project, forged through international collaboration, was designed to capture the first images of a black hole. The endeavor linked together some of the most impressive observatories around the world, including ALMA, and combined their individual collecting areas to expand on all of their already powerful capabilities.

AALMA will cover a critical sector at this joint, and will allow a better connection between the other observing centers. The end result is an array of seven individual radio telescopes spread over four continents and linked together to form a new, Earth-sized radio telescope. 

Credit: National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)