ESO

Taxi, please! 🚖👋

ALMA consists of 66 antennas that work together like a single gigantic telescope in the Chilean Andes. They can be rearranged in different layouts to discern various levels of detail.

This is where these yellow trucks come in. Each truck can carry a 100-tonne antenna and put it in place with a precision of a few millimetres!

Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw2615a/

📷 S. Otarola/ESO

#astrodon #astronomy #astrophysics #space #science

7:00amPhanpy
Show threadPlumeros ☮️8h ago

@esoastronomy

Hi, what's your job?

I'm truck driver in the desert of Chile!

Show threadESO4h ago
@plumeros "Your antenna will be here in 20 min" 😅
Show threadMurmeltHier8h ago

@esoastronomy

Woah! Didn't know that - thats fascinating.

Show threadKvn W7h ago
@esoastronomy Have to wonder what could happen if you coordinated with the VLA? Though I know next to nothing, it sounds like a grand idea.
Show threadESO4h ago
@strawhousepig Unfortunately that's not possible, as both facilities observe radiation with different wavelengths. ALMA observes radiation at millimetre wavelengths, whereas the VLA operates in the centimetre/metre range. That being said, ALMA is part of the Event Horizon Telescope, the planet-sized network of radio telescopes that took the first image of a black hole.
Show threadRobin Barton4h ago
@esoastronomy I love science