ALMA Telescope Makes First Observations

November 17, 2009 in Space by 8ify.com - Space

 Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) This artist's rendering shows what ALMA will look like upon completion in 2012. At 66 antennas strong, she's one beautiful array. NRAO

The ALMA telescope located high in the Chilean Andes made its first measurements on Tuesday using just two of the eventual 66 antennas that will comprise the array. The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array took interferometric measurements of radio signals, or "fringes," from a distant quasar (3C454.3) at sub-millimeter wavelengths. Astronomers said the data from the two 12-meter antennas provided unprecedented sensitivity and resolution, and observations at a wavelength of less than 1mm showed ALMA was now truly a "submillimeter" as well as millimeter-wave telescope.
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