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2019 ALMA Top 10 2021 Science Highlights AAS June 2023 ALMA Astrophotography Project AR Models CDL Co-op Program Stories Desktop/Video Chat Backgrounds Image of the Week Jansky Lectures ngVLA Artist Impressions ngVLA Science Goals PHANGS-ALMA Catalog 2021 The Baseline VERTICO VLA Astrophotography Project VLASS Women in Astronomy IV 2017

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This illustration traces the universe’s evolution from the Big Bang to the present day, highlighting REBELS-25, a very distant galaxy seen during the Epoch of Reionization 13 billion years ago. New deep observations with the NSF VLA and ALMA reveal that REBELS-25 already had an enormous reservoir of cool molecular gas—the direct fuel for star formation—when the universe was just 700 million years old.

Cosmic Dawn Fuel Discovery Unlocks Early Galaxy Growth Secretsmore_horiz

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/ATLASmore_horiz

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 112more_horiz

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 Waymore_horiz

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 Waymore_horiz

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 OSFmore_horiz

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

ALMA Sign Up Closemore_horiz

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 Waymore_horiz

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 1more_horiz

Outside the ALMA Operations Support Facility (OSF), the second highest building in the world, fixtures are used sparingly to prevent light pollution from contaminating the incredible night sky. You can imagine that none of the stars in this photograph would have been visible if this light were on.

ALMA Street Lightmore_horiz

The high and dry environment in the Atacama desert, surrounded by the Andes Mountains in northern Chile, provides some of the best opportunities for astronomy in the world.

Green ALMA Dishesmore_horiz

This panoramic photo reveals the impressive multi-sport athletic facility that includes a full-sized basketball court, volleyball court, and football pitch, hidden beneath this nearly opaque dome. ALMA staff use the facility to exercise and compete in soccer, basketball, volleyball, and more. The figure to the right of the dome helps to give it some sense of scale.

ALMA Multi-Cancha Under the Starsmore_horiz

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.

ALMA with the Milky Waymore_horiz

The Large Magellanic Cloud, a view unique to the Southern Hemisphere, stands proudly above one of the 66 antennas that make up the ALMA array.

ALMA Dish Unique Views from the Southern Hemispheremore_horiz

It takes a village to run the most sophisticated radio observatory in the world. Sitting at 3000 meters, the ALMA Operations Support Facility (OSF) contains everything from housing and food services to generators and potable water supply – anything that's needed to support the hundreds of people that live and work at the site.

The Milky Way Galaxy Blankets the ALMA Operations Support Facilitymore_horiz

Photo taken by Bettymaya Foott as part of an astrophotography project with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).

Green ALMA Telescopes with the Milky Waymore_horiz

A meteor tries to steal the focus from the highly visible Large Magellanic Cloud, which is primarily visible to just the Southern Hemisphere. Meanwhile, one of ALMA’s 66 antennas focuses its attention elsewhere in the Universe.

ALMA with Large Magellanic Cloud Meteormore_horiz

While the Chajnantor plateau of the Chilean Andes is incredibly beautiful and clear, at an elevation of 5,000 meters, the environment can also be very harsh. There are restrictions in place to protect workers from the often cold and windy conditions. The temperature on this particular night was well below 0° F. The orange suits provide a durable layer of warmth and protection as well as increase worker visibility in dusty and dark conditions.

ALMA Telescope Workers Suit Up!more_horiz

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