ALMA
Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array
ALMA radio telescope is composed of 66 high-precision antennas, which operate on wavelengths of 0.32 to 3.6 mm. Its main array has fifty antennas, each with 12-meter diameters, which act together as a single telescope: an interferometer. This is complemented by a compact array of four antennas with 12-meter diameters and 12 antennas with 7-meter diameters. ALMA’s antennas can be configured in different ways, spacing them at distances from 150 meters to 16 kilometers, giving ALMA a powerful “zoom” variable, which results in images clearer than the images from the Hubble Space Telescope.
The radio astronomy group at the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory is part of the Consortium involved in the final design and production of 73 Cold Cartridge Assemblies for the ALMA Band 2 receivers (67-116 GHz).