spacetoday.net: ALMA radio observatory inaugurated

Posted: Thu, Mar 14, 2013, 6:59 AM ET (1059 GMT)
ALMA radio observatory (ESA)

European, American, and Chilean officials officially inaugurated a billion-dollar observatory in the Chilean desert on Thursday. The ceremony marked the end of the construction phase of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) radio observatory in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The observatory, located 5,000 meters above sea level, is an array of 66 radio antennas, the last of which were recently installed. ALMA will provide the most sensitive and highest-resolution observations at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. Planning for the $1.3-billion observatory, primarily funded by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF), dates back to the 1990s; construction started in 2003.