ALMA Observatory
Founded to discover humanities cosmic origin circa '96
Location
Why did they set up here?
How does it work?
How is data collected?
Major Discoveries
Japanese Astronomers Revealed the Origin of the Cosmic Background Light- Japanese astronomers have revealed that approximately 80% of the unidentified millimeter wave light is emitted from galaxies. They were also able to pinpoint the exact galaxy the light was coming from. In addition, they also successfully measured the number density of galaxies which are 10 times less luminous than ones previously observed with conventional millimeter instruments.
ALMA Pinpoints Early Galaxies at Record Speed- Astronomers used the new ALMA telescope to pinpoint the locations of over 100 of the most fertile star-forming galaxies in the early universe. They were able to do this in a matter of hours when with previous technology would have taken around a decade.
Current Projects/Improvments
Star births- ALMA shows that the most vigorous bursts of star birth in the cosmos took place much earlier than previously thought. Many of these distant dusty start forming galaxies are even further away that expected.
More Antennas- ALMA is adding more antennas to increase the quality of data.