Proceedings of the IEEE · 2009 · 504 citations · 22 references
Natural SciencesAstronomyPhysicsAntennasAstrophysicsRadio AstronomyInterferometryObservatory InstrumentationRadiation InstrumentationRadio TelescopesSolar PhysicsTelescope OpticsAstronomical SourcesHigh-redshift GalaxiesMillimeter-wave Radio TelescopesRadio Telescope SystemsSubmillimeter Telescope DesignTelescope Array DesignTelescopes
ALMA is an international radio telescope under construction in Chile’s Atacama Desert, positioned at 5000 m elevation to exploit the dry site’s excellent atmospheric transmission across 0.3–10 mm wavelengths. This paper outlines ALMA’s scientific drivers, technical challenges, and planned progress. ALMA comprises two arrays: a reconfigurable set of up to 64 12‑m antennas spanning 150 m to ~15 km, and a second array of four 12‑m plus twelve 7‑m antennas in two compact ~50 m configurations, delivering interferometric and total‑power data on gas and dust from the solar system to high‑redshift galaxies.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an international radio telescope under construction in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. ALMA is situated on a dry site at 5000 m elevation, allowing excellent atmospheric transmission over the instrument wavelength range of 0.3 to 10 mm. ALMA will consist of two arrays of high-precision antennas. One, of up to 64 12-m diameter antennas, is reconfigurable in multiple patterns ranging in size from 150 meters up to ~15 km. A second array is comprised of a set of four 12-m and twelve 7-m antennas operating in one of two closely packed configurations ~50 m in diameter. The instrument will provide both interferometric and total-power astronomical information on atomic, molecular and ionized gas and dust in the solar system, our Galaxy, and the nearby to high-redshift universe. In this paper we outline the scientific drivers, technical challenges and planned progress of ALMA.
22
Advances in Calibration and Imaging Techniques in Radio Interferometry
Urvashi Rau, S. Bhatnagar, M. A. Voronkov et al. · Proceedings of the IEEE · 2009 · 106 citations · Full text
Evaluation of the ALMA Prototype Antennas1
J. G. Mangum, J. W. M. Baars, A. Greve et al. · Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific · 2006 · 70 citations · Full text