Snowstorm at ALMA
At 16,500 feet in the Chilean Andes, ALMA experiences some extreme weather conditions. They don’t last long, but they blow through in a fury. The benefits of the dry, high site outweigh the occasional storms, and engineers made sure that all models of the antennas were covered in carbon fiber armor to withstand the Atacama’s fierce environment.
Credit: J. Guarda, ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)
