December - Galactic arch above ALMA

The Milky Way’s majestic arch stretches across the sky on the Chajnantor Plateau in Chile, home to the ALMA observatory, in which ESO is a partner. Located at an altitude of 5000 metres, ALMA consists of 66 antennas, some of which can be seen in the image. The antennas can be connected together to act as a single telescope, enabling ALMA to observe distant, ancient phenomena such as the birth of stars, the formation of exoplanets, and remote galaxies.