Another World

On occasion, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) at the Chajnantor plateau in northern Chile experiences something you might not associate with an astronomical observatory — snow!

When snow falls and coats the landscape with a frosty glaze of cool white, the entire site is transformed. It becomes something almost subterranean or extra-terrestrial, reminiscent of a rebel base from Star Wars or a dystopian scene from Blade Runner.

A number of ALMA’s 66 high-precision radio antennas can be seen in this image, connected by cleared pathways. The array spends its time observing the cool Universe and its phenomena — star formation, molecular clouds, and the early Universe.