ALMA and Chajnantor at Twilight

Thanks to ESO’s Photo Ambassadors we can enjoy sensational images taken at the ESO sites on the remote mountaintops of Chile. Babak Tafreshi has captured this fine panoramic view of the antennas of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) at twilight. Resembling a frame from a science fiction movie, the technological spectacle of ALMA against the raw natural power of the landscape on the Chajnantor Plateau, 5000 metres above sea level, results in fascinating images like this one.

There are a few details you shouldn't miss in this panoramic photo of ALMA (seen more clearly in the zoomable version), all lying between the two groups of antennas: the "Earth's shadow" and "Belt of Venus" phenomena, visible as the dark blue and light pink bands stretching across the sky, and the planet Jupiter, seen right above the mountain in the background.

ALMA, an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of Europe, North America and East Asia in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA construction and operations are led on behalf of Europe by ESO, on behalf of North America by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), and on behalf of East Asia by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning and operation of ALMA.