Learn with Talma

Do astronomers live at ALMA?

If you hold your breath for too long, you will die. Your body needs the oxygen in the air. Without getting enough oxygen, you can’t survive. That’s why divers always take bottles of oxygen with them. After all, under water there is no air to breathe. At the ALMA observatory, it’s hard to breathe normally....

The electromagnetic spectrum

The Sun emits light. Sunlight appears white, but it consists of different colors, as can be seen in the rainbow. Every color has its own wavelength: red waves of lights are longer than violet waves of light. But there’s more than the visible colors of the rainbow. Scientists have discovered many forms of invisible light. For instance,...

Did life originate in space?

Did you know that you are made of star stuff? It’s true! Many of the atoms in your body were created in other stars. It’s one of the most exciting discoveries in science ever made. When the Universe was very young, billions of years ago, there were only very simple atoms. Mostly hydrogen and helium....

How do stars and planets form?

You live on a planet, called Earth. Together with seven other planets, Earth circles around the Sun. As far as we know, Earth is the only planet in our solar system where life exists. Life needs a planet to live on. And life needs a star to get energy from. Without the Earth or without the...

When were the first galaxies born?

The Earth is a planet, orbiting the Sun. The Sun is a star – a giant ball of hot gas, emitting light and heat. The Sun is one of the few hundred billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy. And the Milky Way is one of the hundred billion or so galaxies in the Universe. Astronomers...

How do solar explosions work?

The Sun is a star. Not many people know that. It’s a star like all the other stars in the night sky. Or, put differently: all the stars in the night sky are suns like our own. So why are the stars tiny pinpricks of light, while the Sun is so large, bright and hot? It’s...

How are ALMA images created?

ALMA measures millimeter waves from the sky. These millimeter waves are emitted by cold dust clouds in the Universe. The clouds are so cold that they don’t produce visible light. They’re completely dark. With a normal telescope, you can’t see them. But ALMA can detect their invisible radiation. But if millimeter waves are invisible for...

How are the antennas moved around?

The huge array of 66 ALMA antennas is located at the Chajnantor Plateau in the north of Chile, at 5,000 meters altitude. The site is known as the AOS – the Array Operations Site. Because of the high altitude, the air at the AOS is very thin. There’s not much oxygen to breathe. So it’s almost...

How are ALMA’s antennas connected?

Your eyes are connected to your brain through thick bundles of nerve cells. These optic nerves transfer the signals from your two retinas to your brain. Your brain processes the signals, and turns them into a nice three-dimensional view of your surroundings. Of course, it’s important that the signals from your left eye arrive at...

How does ALMA see ‘invisible light’?

Look around you. You see the text you are reading right now. You see the room where you’re sitting in. Outside the window, you may see the street where you live, and the Sun in the sky. Or, if it’s already dark, you may see the Moon and the stars. But how does this all...

Is there a lot to see?

ALMA is located in the Atacama Desert. When thinking about a desert, you probably imagine a vast, boring stretch of hot sand, with the occasional palm tree. But the Atacama is very different. In fact, it’s extremely beautiful and varied. Especially the area around San Pedro de Atacama is full of surprises. San Pedro itself...

Why is ALMA so high?

ALMA is the highest observatory in the world. The Chajnantor Plateau, where the 66 ALMA antennas are located, is at five kilometers above sea level. It would take you about an hour to walk that distance – straight up! Only one building in the world is slightly higher – a train station in the Himalaya...

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