February 26, 2003
(PLANETQUEST) -- The European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) signed a historic agreement Tuesday to construct and operate the world's largest and most powerful radio telescope. The science goals of the new instrument include the study of
extrasolar planets forming around young stars in our galaxy.
Known as the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), the future facility will encompass 64 interconnected 12-meter antennae at a high-altitude site at Chajnantor in the Atacama region of northern Chile.
ALMA's array of antennae will work together as one telescope to study millimeter and sub-millimeter wavelength radiation from space. This radiation crosses the critical boundary between infrared and microwave radiation and holds the key to understanding such processes as planet and star formation, the formation of early galaxies and galaxy clusters, and the formation of organic and other molecules in space, according to the European Southern Observatory.
The ALMA may also play an important role in the search for extrasolar planets through accurate astrometry and even direct detection of planets and planetary atmospheres outside our solar system.
Construction of the array is scheduled to be completed in 2011.
