From an altitude of over 5,000 meters, the night sky view from
Chajnantor Plateau in the Chilean Andes is breathtaking in more
ways than one. The dark site's rarefied atmosphere, at about 50
percent sea level pressure, is also That makes it ideal for the
Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) designed to explore the
universe at wavelengths over 1,000 times longer than visible
light. Near the center of the panoramic scene, ALMA's 7 and 12
meter wide dish antennas are illuminated by a young Moon nestled
in the arc of the Milky Way. configurations are intended to
achieve a resolution comparable to space telescopes by operating
as an At left, a meteor's streak and the Milky Way's satellite
galaxies, the Large (bottom) and Small Magellanic Clouds grace
the night. (Los Cielos de