Last ALMA Radio Telescope Antenna Arrives

By Doug Lung
published

The final antenna necessary for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array radio telescope project has been delivered to the ALMA observatory located in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The 12-meter dish was manufactured by the European AEM Consortium and is the 66th antenna delivered to the observatory.

North American interests have provided 25 12-meter antennas and East Asia backers of the project have supplied four 12-meter antennas and 12 7-meter antennas. It’s expected that by the end of this year all 66 antennas will be working together to act as a radio telescope that will stretch 16 kilometers across the Chajnantor Plateau in northern Chile.

The high elevation and extremely dry atmospheric conditions at the site will allow observation of signals at submillimeter and millimeter wavelengths that are attenuated by the atmosphere at other locations. The sensitivity of the array will allow observation of some of the coldest clouds of gas and dust where new stars are being formed and of remote galaxies towards the edge of the observable universe.

For more information see the European Southern Observatory web page ALMA – In search of our cosmic origins,

Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.