The observatories at Chajnantor

This video shows the ALMA Array Operations Site (AOS) on the Chajnantor plateau in northern Chile.

In this desert setting that hardly resembles a typical view of our planet, astronomers find the best conditions to observe the coolest and the most distant objects in the Universe.

On the left we see the first antennas for ALMA; moving to the right, the AOS Technical Building and the 12-metre diameter antenna of APEX, the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment, operative at Chajnantor since 2005.

In the background, the 5920m Licancabur volcano dominates the landscape.