ALMA: Atacama Large Millimeter Submillimeter Array

Focused on exploring the darkest, coldest, most distant, regions of space to develop a deeper understanding of the origins of our universe.

The Atacama Large Millimeter Submillimeter Array (ALMA) is a forefront astronomy facility in northern Chile. ALMA is at an altitude of 5,050 meters and consists of an 11-mile-wide interferometric imaging array of 54, 12-meter dish antennas and a compact array of 12, 7-meter antennas.

AUI proposed the creation of ALMA

And led efforts in the design, construction, management, and operation of the resulting facilities. AUI maintains offices in Chile and US dedicated to our continued support and management.

ALMA Discoveries

ALMA began early science operations in September 2011 and has led to several important discoveries including the first detailed images of a planet forming disc around the young star HL Tau.

ALMA also played a significant role through the Event Horizon Telescope Project on the creation of the first images of a supermassive black hole and its shadow. ALMA explores the Universe in millimeter and submillimeter-wavelengths with unprecedented sensitivity, resolution, and imaging capability. In cooperation with the Republic of Chile, ALMA is a major international partnership of North America, Europe, and East Asia.

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1st

Images of Planet Forming Disc

1st

Images of Super Massive Black Hole

Related News

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Using the Atacama Large Millimeter /submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner, astronomers have unambiguously detected the presence of a disc around a planet outside our Solar System for the first time.

After Long Shutdown, Giant Radio Telescope Array Set to Resume Observations

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a set of 66 radio astronomy dishes perched high in the Chilean Andes, was hit hard by the pandemic. It shut down on 22 March 2020 and has remained silent ever since—far longer than most scientific facilities....

ALMA Takes First Step Toward Return to Service

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ALMA Shows Volcanic Impact on Io’s Atmosphere

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ALMA Discovers Misaligned Rings in Planet-Forming Disk Around Triple Stars

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ALMA Discovers Massive Rotating Disk in Early Universe

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Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have found striking orbital geometries in protoplanetary disks around binary stars. While disks orbiting the most compact binary star systems share very nearly the same plane, disks encircling...

ALMA Reveals Unusual Composition of Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov

2I/Borisov likely formed in extremely cold environment, high amounts of carbon monoxide show A galactic visitor entered our solar system last year – interstellar comet 2I/Borisov. When astronomers pointed the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) toward...

ALMA Spots Most Distant Dusty Galaxy Hidden in Plain Sight

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have spotted the light of a massive galaxy seen only 970 million years after the Big Bang. This galaxy, called MAMBO-9, is the most distant dusty star-forming galaxy that has ever been observed...

Gas ‘Waterfalls’ Reveal Infant Planets around Young Star

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