Welcome to ALMA and the European ALMA Regional Centre!

ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) is the world's largest ground-based facility for observations in the millimeter/submillimeter regime located on the Chajnantor plateau, 5000 meters altitude in northern Chile. It enables transformational research into the physics of the cold Universe, probes the first stars and galaxies, and directly images the formation of planets. ALMA comprises a giant array of fifty 12-m antennas, which can be configured to achieve baselines up to 16 km. It is equipped with state-of-the-art receivers that cover all the atmospheric windows up to 1 THz. In addition, a compact array of 7-m and 12-m antennas greatly enhance ALMA's ability to image extended sources.

The European ALMA Regional Centre (ARC) provides the interface between the ALMA project and the European science community. It supports its users mainly in the areas of proposal preparation, observation preparation, data reduction, and data analysis.

Below you can read the latest Announcements from the European ARC Network.. More details and up-to-date information can be found in the News section and the ALMA Science Portal.

Update on the Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade

Published: 28 Nov 2024

Numerous ALMA staff worldwide remain actively involved in the preparation of the ALMA Wideband Sensitivity Upgrade (WSU). Regarding the advancement of development projects within the ALMA regions, the Data Transmission System successfully completed its Preliminary Design Review in Japan in October. Additionally, the Conceptual Design Review and the System Requirement Review for the Total Power GPU Spectrometer were also passed in October.

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AI-Driven Imaging: ESO's Internal ALMA Development Study 'BRAIN' Completed!

Published: 28 Nov 2024


The BRAIN study pioneers the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to ALMA data, redefining imaging processes. By addressing challenges like extended emission detection and computational efficiency, the study introduces cutting-edge tools - RESOLVE and DeepFocus - to improve imaging quality and speed.

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Towards ALMA 2040

Published: 28 Nov 2024

Following the announcement from ESO about the start of the search for its next astronomical ground-based programme for the 2040s (https://next.eso.org/), the community is getting organised to prepare the science case for a potential facility in the 2040s ('ALMA 2040'), building upon the successes of the current ALMA Observatory. 

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Registration open for Spanish ALMA Days

Published: 01 Nov 2024

Spanish ALMA days will take place on 18-20 February 2025 and will be hosted by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) in Tenerife, Spain.

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Registration open for UK ALMA Workshop (hybrid)

Published: 28 Oct 2024

The UK ALMA 2025 Hybrid Workshop will take place 20-22 January 2025 (registration deadline: 15 November 2024).

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Quick Links

  • ALMA Web site: The main ALMA Web site maintained by the Joint ALMA Observatory.
  • ALMA Science Portal: The primary web interface between ALMA and the science community.
  • ALMA Helpdesk: Please use the Helpdesk to contact us for questions of any kind.