1
00:00:04,389 --> 00:00:05,300
ALMA,

2
00:00:05,300 --> 00:00:08,290
the world’s most complex ground-based observatory,

3
00:00:08,290 --> 00:00:10,240
has just opened for business.

4
00:00:11,192 --> 00:00:12,846
The telescope is still being built,

5
00:00:12,846 --> 00:00:16,625
and its capabilities will continue to grow over the coming year.

6
00:00:16,625 --> 00:00:18,669
But even at this early stage,

7
00:00:18,669 --> 00:00:24,102
its images reveal a view of the Universe that is invisible to normal telescopes.

8
00:00:24,300 --> 00:00:26,587
Thousands of scientists from around the world

9
00:00:26,587 --> 00:00:29,977
have competed to be among the first to use ALMA.

10
00:00:29,977 --> 00:00:34,621
Whit it, they hope to explore some of the darkest, coldest, furthest,

11
00:00:34,621 --> 00:00:37,640
and most hidden secrets of the cosmos.

12
00:00:42,098 --> 00:00:44,000
This is the ESOcast!

13
00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:46,742
Cutting-edge science and life behind the scenes of ESO,

14
00:00:46,742 --> 00:00:49,017
the European Southern Observatory.

15
00:00:49,017 --> 00:00:55,635
Exploring the ultimate frontier with our host Dr J, a.k.a. Dr Joe Liske.

16
00:01:02,183 --> 00:01:04,296
Hello, and welcome to the ESOcast.

17
00:01:04,900 --> 00:01:08,174
In this episode, we’ll get the latest news from ALMA,

18
00:01:08,174 --> 00:01:11,726
the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array,

19
00:01:11,726 --> 00:01:14,652
as it begins its first science observations,

20
00:01:14,652 --> 00:01:17,903
and we reveal the first public image from ALMA:

21
00:01:17,903 --> 00:01:23,104
a dramatic view of galaxies that are undergoing a cosmic collision!

22
00:01:26,007 --> 00:01:28,863
We’ll find out how astronomers around the world

23
00:01:28,863 --> 00:01:33,042
have been eagerly waiting to get their hands on this revolutionary telescope,

24
00:01:33,042 --> 00:01:37,361
and discover why this is only the beginning for the observatory.

25
00:01:40,566 --> 00:01:44,583
So far, only around a third of ALMA’s 66 antennas

26
00:01:44,583 --> 00:01:48,437
have been installed at the observatory site on the Chajnantor plateau,

27
00:01:48,437 --> 00:01:52,083
5000 metres up in the Chilean Andes mountains.

28
00:01:52,594 --> 00:01:55,101
And yet, even before it’s completed,

29
00:01:55,101 --> 00:01:59,258
ALMA is already the most powerful telescope of its kind.

30
00:02:02,276 --> 00:02:07,663
ALMA observes the Universe in light with millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths,

31
00:02:07,663 --> 00:02:11,518
roughly one thousand times longer than visible-light wavelengths.

32
00:02:12,377 --> 00:02:13,863
Using these longer wavelengths

33
00:02:13,863 --> 00:02:17,996
allows astronomers to study extremely cold objects in space,

34
00:02:17,996 --> 00:02:21,247
which appear dark through normal telescopes.

35
00:02:24,498 --> 00:02:25,450
In addition, 

36
00:02:25,450 --> 00:02:30,628
they are also very useful for peering inside dense clouds of cosmic dust

37
00:02:30,628 --> 00:02:34,300
and for observing very distant objects in the early Universe.

38
00:02:38,430 --> 00:02:42,842
ALMA is radically different from visible-light and infrared telescopes.

39
00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:46,092
As well as looking at these longer wavelengths of light,

40
00:02:46,092 --> 00:02:48,763
it works in a totally different way.

41
00:02:49,273 --> 00:02:51,200
Instead of being one big telescope,

42
00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:53,732
ALMA uses an array of antennas

43
00:02:53,732 --> 00:02:58,097
spread out over distances of up to 16 kilometres.

44
00:03:02,044 --> 00:03:05,644
The views from each antenna are combined into one image

45
00:03:05,644 --> 00:03:09,568
by one of the world’s fastest special-purpose supercomputers,

46
00:03:09,568 --> 00:03:11,704
the ALMA correlator,

47
00:03:11,704 --> 00:03:16,719
which can perform 17 quadrillion operations per second.

48
00:03:17,393 --> 00:03:19,065
Because of this, pictures from ALMA

49
00:03:19,065 --> 00:03:22,571
look quite unlike more familiar pictures of the cosmos.

50
00:03:30,001 --> 00:03:31,394
The ALMA team has been busy

51
00:03:31,394 --> 00:03:34,576
testing the observatory’s systems over the past months,

52
00:03:34,576 --> 00:03:38,337
in preparation for the first round of scientific observations.

53
00:03:38,941 --> 00:03:43,353
One outcome of their tests is the first image published from ALMA.

54
00:03:43,771 --> 00:03:47,100
This image was made using only twelve antennas

55
00:03:47,100 --> 00:03:49,645
— fewer than will be used for the first science observations,

56
00:03:49,645 --> 00:03:52,200
let alone the completed observatory —

57
00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:54,893
and spaced much closer together as well.

58
00:03:55,845 --> 00:03:57,912
Both of these factors make the new image

59
00:03:57,912 --> 00:04:00,466
 just a taster of what is to come.

60
00:04:03,786 --> 00:04:07,084
The Antennae Galaxies are a pair of colliding galaxies

61
00:04:07,084 --> 00:04:09,638
with dramatically distorted shapes.

62
00:04:09,916 --> 00:04:13,724
While visible light shows us the stars in the galaxies,

63
00:04:13,724 --> 00:04:19,900
ALMA’s view reveals the clouds of dense cold gas from which new stars form.

64
00:04:20,389 --> 00:04:24,893
Massive concentrations of gas are found not only in the hearts of the two galaxies

65
00:04:24,893 --> 00:04:28,446
but also in the chaotic region where they are colliding.

66
00:04:28,701 --> 00:04:33,624
Here, the total amount of gas is billions of times the mass of our Sun

67
00:04:33,624 --> 00:04:38,129
— a rich reservoir of material for future generations of stars.

68
00:04:42,331 --> 00:04:45,280
Observations like these will be vital in helping us understand

69
00:04:45,280 --> 00:04:48,949
how galaxy collisions can trigger the birth of new stars.

70
00:04:49,390 --> 00:04:53,175
This is just one example of how ALMA reveals parts of the Universe

71
00:04:53,175 --> 00:04:57,308
that cannot be seen with visible-light and infrared telescopes.

72
00:05:02,626 --> 00:05:03,949
Over the coming year

73
00:05:03,949 --> 00:05:08,872
the sharpness, speed, and quality of its observations will increase dramatically

74
00:05:08,872 --> 00:05:13,702
as more antennas become available and the array grows in size.

75
00:05:15,629 --> 00:05:18,508
But even with only part of the array in operation,

76
00:05:18,508 --> 00:05:22,247
this is already the best submillimetre-wavelength image ever made

77
00:05:22,247 --> 00:05:23,825
of the Antennae Galaxies.

78
00:05:27,750 --> 00:05:30,629
ALMA could accept only about a hundred or so projects

79
00:05:30,629 --> 00:05:33,555
for this first nine-month round of observations.

80
00:05:34,158 --> 00:05:36,155
Nevertheless, over the last few months,

81
00:05:36,155 --> 00:05:41,240
astronomers from around the world have submitted over 900 applications to use it,

82
00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:43,609
a record level of interest.

83
00:05:45,234 --> 00:05:49,042
The successful projects were chosen based on their scientific merit,

84
00:05:49,042 --> 00:05:50,737
their regional diversity,

85
00:05:50,737 --> 00:05:54,220
and also their relevance to ALMA’s major science goals.

86
00:05:54,917 --> 00:05:58,400
Let’s hear from some of the astronomers who are planning to use ALMA,

87
00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:02,029
and why they’re so excited about this new telescope.

88
00:06:03,601 --> 00:06:05,203
One of the main reasons we’re building ALMA

89
00:06:05,203 --> 00:06:08,826
is to study the birth of the Solar System, in essence.

90
00:06:09,662 --> 00:06:12,796
The Solar System was formed 4.5 billion years ago

91
00:06:12,796 --> 00:06:16,488
and we’d like to understand how other solar systems have come into being.

92
00:06:16,488 --> 00:06:20,923
ALMA’s got the scale, the sensitivity, and the resolution

93
00:06:20,923 --> 00:06:24,685
to make detailed studies of solar systems like our Sun,

94
00:06:24,685 --> 00:06:27,239
forming nearby in our Galaxy.

95
00:06:28,238 --> 00:06:31,256
I look at molecular clouds in nearby galaxies.

96
00:06:31,581 --> 00:06:34,182
Molecular clouds are where stars form.

97
00:06:34,786 --> 00:06:36,829
The clouds are made up of very cold gas,

98
00:06:37,688 --> 00:06:40,033
and studying the physical conditions in these clouds

99
00:06:40,033 --> 00:06:43,122
helps us to understand the star formation process.

100
00:06:43,122 --> 00:06:47,650
Currently we can study molecular clouds only for very nearby galaxies,

101
00:06:47,650 --> 00:06:49,693
out to about 30 million light-years.

102
00:06:50,041 --> 00:06:53,106
With ALMA we’ll be able to study individual clouds in galaxies 

103
00:06:53,106 --> 00:06:54,546
much much further out.

104
00:06:55,568 --> 00:06:58,424
ALMA is going to be a very important instrument to teach us about

105
00:06:58,424 --> 00:07:03,207
the physics that goes on around the black hole in the centre of the Milky Way galaxy.

106
00:07:03,207 --> 00:07:05,181
This is because all the intervening dust

107
00:07:05,181 --> 00:07:08,339
can obscure some of the shorter wavelength observations.

108
00:07:08,339 --> 00:07:12,216
So with very high angular resolution into the submillimetre band

109
00:07:12,216 --> 00:07:14,678
that the ALMA telescope will be able to observe at,

110
00:07:14,678 --> 00:07:19,229
we’ll be able to look at the fine-scale structural detail around the black hole.

111
00:07:20,700 --> 00:07:24,800
Well, we know of some galaxies that exist in the far away Universe

112
00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:28,215
that are only seen in certain wavelengths,

113
00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:29,812
so for example

114
00:07:30,550 --> 00:07:32,812
we know about radio galaxies

115
00:07:32,812 --> 00:07:36,481
that are not observed in any other wavelengths,

116
00:07:36,481 --> 00:07:38,408
even with the most powerful telescopes.

117
00:07:38,900 --> 00:07:40,452
And we have been waiting for ALMA

118
00:07:40,452 --> 00:07:43,842
to give us the possibility to understand what these galaxies are

119
00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:47,185
and what is happening in them.

120
00:07:50,854 --> 00:07:53,734
Building work by ALMA’s partner organisations from Europe,

121
00:07:53,734 --> 00:07:55,939
North America and East Asia

122
00:07:55,939 --> 00:07:59,144
will continue during the first science observations.

123
00:07:59,399 --> 00:08:02,500
By 2013, the observatory will be complete,

124
00:08:02,500 --> 00:08:04,345
and will feature 66 antennas

125
00:08:04,345 --> 00:08:08,432
spread out over distances of up to 16 kilometres.

126
00:08:09,918 --> 00:08:13,000
By unfolding its enormous observational potential

127
00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:16,250
ALMA will revolutionise many areas of astronomy

128
00:08:16,250 --> 00:08:20,576
and will provide us with profound insights into the Universe.

129
00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:23,687
This is Dr. J signing off for the ESOcast.

130
00:08:23,687 --> 00:08:27,402
Join us again next time for another cosmic adventure.

131
00:08:29,562 --> 00:08:33,254
ESOcast is produced by ESO, the European Southern Observatory.

132
00:08:33,254 --> 00:08:35,254
ESO, the European Southern Observatory, is the pre-eminent intergovernmental science and technology organisation in astronomy,

133
00:08:35,254 --> 00:08:37,254
designing, constructing and operating the world’s most advanced ground-based telescopes.

134
00:08:37,254 --> 00:08:40,254
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of Europe, North America and East Asia in cooperation with the Republic of Chile.

135
00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:46,500
Transcription by ESO ; translation by —

136
00:08:58,285 --> 00:09:01,768
Now that you've caught up with ESO,

137
00:09:03,626 --> 00:09:06,969
head 'out of this world' with Hubble.

138
00:09:08,688 --> 00:09:15,979
The Hubblecast highlights the latest discoveries of the world´s most recognized and prized space observatory,

139
00:09:18,254 --> 00:09:22,000
the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope