Mounted image 096: Snow at the ALMA site

High in the Chilean Andes, at 5000 metres above sea level, one of ALMA’s giant antenna transporters contemplates an unexpected sight — a delicate dusting of snow whitens the breathtaking landscape of the Chajnantor plateau, home of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) project. Snow is a very rare event here — this is one of the driest places in the world, making it ideal for ALMA’s astronomical observations.