ALMA with the Milky Way

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ALMA with the Milky Way

A nighttime view of a high-altitude radio observatory shows several large parabolic antennas silhouetted against a dark plateau, while the bright, star-filled band of the Milky Way arches dramatically across the sky overhead.

Countries from around the world have invested in and developed cutting-edge observatories that take advantage of the incredible Chilean skies. Within and around the Milky Way, dark areas of dense clouds hide phenomena that are invisible to optical observatories. ALMA views the radio (long-wavelength) end of the electromagnetic spectrum and can peer into these clouds to solve cosmic mysteries previously hidden from sight.

Credit: NSF/ AUI/ NSF NRAO/ B.Foott

ALMA Radio Telescopes and Technology

ALMA Astrophotography Project

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More ALMA Images & Videos

A bright, icy-looking object floats in deep space at the center of the image, surrounded by a large, glowing blue and pale orange cloud that fades softly into the dark background. The blue part of the cloud is largest and mostly on the left-hand side. The orange part is smaller and on the right-hand side. Small stars are scattered throughout the black sky.

Artist’s Impression of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

Artist’s illustration of the binary star system WR 112. A bright blue-white Wolf-Rayet star and a nearby, smaller companion star orbit each other in space. Their powerful stellar winds collide between them, creating a glowing region where dust forms and streams outward in a spiral plume. A magnified inset in the top right corner, shows the dust grains against a reddish background, highlighting mostly extremely tiny, nanometer-sized particles along with a smaller number of grains about 100 times larger.

Artist impression of WR 112

View of the Milky Way Galaxy seen from the ALMA Array Operations Site (AOS). The AOS is located on the Chajnantor plateau of the Chilean Andes, at an altitude of 5000 meters, making it the second highest building in the world. Light from the galaxy core shines even more brightly when captured at an altitude of 5000 meters – with so much less atmosphere to penetrate.

ALMA Looks at the Milky Way

The astro-modified camera used to take this photo lets in the hydrogen alpha light that is normally filtered out. This modification makes the camera more sensitive to the red end of the electromagnetic spectrum, thus giving a pink tint to the sky.

Green ALMA, Pink Milky Way

The red light at the top of the holography tower backlights the ALMA sign at the Operations Support Facility (OSF) while the core of the Milky Way Galaxy stands watch. The holography system is used to precisely calibrate the surface of the ALMA antennas.

Milky Way Galaxy and Holography Tower at ALMA OSF

The bright Moon washes out the fainter stars as it rests behind the ALMA sign at the Operations Support Facility (OSF).

ALMA Sign Up Close

The Milky Way Galaxy pours into an ALMA antenna. The astro-modified camera used to take this photo lets in the hydrogen alpha light that is normally filtered out. This modification makes the camera more sensitive to the red end of the electromagnetic spectrum, thus giving a pink tint to the sky. The green lights are used to show antenna activity.

ALMA and Pink Milky Way

The Milky Way Galaxy stretches over ALMA and the Chajnantor plateau of the Chilean Andes. The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds can also be seen in this panorama that was stitched together from multiple photos.

ALMA Milky Way Panoramic 1

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the U.S. National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.
	Founded in 1956, the NRAO provides state-of-the-art radio telescope facilities for use by the international scientific community. NRAO telescopes are open to all astronomers regardless of institutional or national affiliation. Observing time on NRAO telescopes is available on a competitive basis to qualified scientists after evaluation of research proposals on the basis of scientific merit, the capability of the instruments to do the work, and the availability of the telescope during the requested time. NRAO also provides both formal and informal programs in education and public outreach for teachers, students, the general public, and the media.
	The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense..."
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